


The Boy Next Door

by dereksstilinski (greyslittlediaries)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire, Coming Out, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, POV Alternating, Roommates, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-19 23:56:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5985397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyslittlediaries/pseuds/dereksstilinski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles thinks he's doing the right thing by distancing himself from Derek, but little does he know that Derek needs him more than ever.</p><p>OR in which Stiles and Derek are the same age and have been neighbors all their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this waaaay back when and I was going through the Fic Folder on my laptop and began making edits to this and finally I was like "wtf let's do this megan huh what's stopping you besides that fact that you're in your last semester of college and you're drowning in work???? you should definitely get back into writing fic" and so HERE I AM.
> 
> I don't know how long this is going to be yet, but I've already got about 10k written and I'm not done yet. I'm gonna try and post a new chapter every Friday, if that means anything to anyone!
> 
> I am my own beta, so all mistakes are mine. Feel free to point anything out; I will appreciate it!
> 
> More tags will be added and the rating will change as new chapters are posted.

  **Derek**  

From the moment Derek was born he lives in a town called Beacon Hills, California. He loves it here. He loves the open air and the forest and the fact that even though it’s a decent size city, his neighborhood has a small town feel to it. But above everything else, he loves the neighbors.

He was born in January and just a few short months later the neighbors had a kid too. His parents were best friends with the neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Stilinski, so growing up, Stiles and him were attached at the hip. Their parents loved throwing stupid little play dates. Derek didn’t mind though because Stiles is great. Stiles talks a lot which is perfect because Derek doesn’t talk much and they even each other out.

It’s not that Derek doesn’t want to talk, he just feels like he doesn’t have much to say. He never minded being quiet. It’s just who he is. He likes listening more, anyway. When he was little, kids got annoyed that he wouldn’t contribute as much to the conversation but Stiles just looked at it as an excuse to talk more. That’s one thing that hasn’t really changed.

Once they hit 7th grade, they started to drift apart. It began to happen a couple weeks after Stiles’ mom passed away. The day after she died, Derek went over to see Stiles. He debated over if he should let Stiles grieve alone for a while before finally making the executive decision that Stiles needed someone there for him. So, Derek walked right upstairs to Stiles’ bedroom.

When he walked in, he froze for a second at the sight that greeted him, before snapping out of it and going straight to Stiles’ crying form and holding him tight. Stiles was just laying on his bed, curled up in his blankets with tissues surrounding him. When Derek first put his arms around him, Stiles tensed. He thought that Stiles was going to tell him to leave but then he relaxed and held onto Derek for dear life.

They sat on Stiles’ bed holding each other for a while before his sobs finally began to slow down. Stiles moved to lay down and looked up at Derek in a way that took the breath out of him. Stiles looked like he was pleading at Derek with his eyes for him to understand something. Derek didn’t know what, so he just settled in next to Stiles and continued to silently rub small circles on his back.

Finally, Stiles’ breathing slowed and he seemed to have fallen asleep. Derek got up and cleaned up all the tissues. He moved the small trashcan that was by Stiles’ desk right next to his nightstand so he could just throw the tissues directly into there. Then he went and got a cup of water for Stiles and put it down next to his bed. He lingered there for another minute before leaving and letting Stiles sleep.

Derek doesn’t really know why they drifted apart a couple weeks after that, it just happened. They still politely waved to each other and car pooled to school together but it just wasn’t the same anymore. Anytime that Derek tried to talk to Stiles about it, he shrugged him off and made up some excuse about being busy.

At first, Derek thought it had something to do with Stiles regretting letting Derek see him the way he was the day after Stiles’ mother died. Maybe he was angry with Derek for intruding? Stiles didn’t seem angry with him though, so he couldn’t really understand why he was doing what he was doing.

After a while, Derek pretty much chalked it up to Stiles just getting bored of him. Derek was always okay with who he was (quiet and shy and all) and he kind of always thought that Stiles liked him all the more for that, but people change, he guesses. So, he decided he wouldn’t push it anymore.

Stiles was still being nice to him, even if they were no longer best friends. If Stiles wanted to branch out and meet more exciting people, Derek would let him. Even though it hurt, Derek wouldn’t push an awkward conversation that could lead to Stiles not even smiling at him anymore.

Now, they’re sophomores in high school and Stiles came out as gay at the beginning of the year. Derek’s family was having their annual back to school barbeque and Stiles and his dad were there, of course. Laura, Derek’s older sister, asked Stiles if he had a girlfriend, probably meaning to get Stiles all flustered because Laura’s evil like that and gets pleasure from other people’s embarrassment. It worked, because Stiles blushed, but then he just let out a small nervous laugh and scratched absently at the back of his neck while he said “No, I don’t have a girlfriend but if I, uh, if I get a _boyfriend_ I’ll be sure to let you know.” And Laura widened her eyes for a second, but recovered quickly and gave him a soft smile (because even though Laura may be evil, she still looks at Stiles like he’s a brother and therefore loves him).

Stiles looked at Derek after he said it and Derek’s positive his face resembled a fish because he was gaping at Stiles—he’s pretty sure his jaw hit the floor. Sadly, he didn’t recover quick enough to offer Stiles any other emotion but pure fucking shock before Stiles turned away and mumbled something about getting another cheeseburger.

The thing is, Derek didn’t give a shit that Stiles is gay. He’s happy for him. Happy that he is able to be honest with himself and be okay with who he is. He’s more shocked that there was a point in their lives where Derek probably would have been the first person that Stiles told about something like that. And Derek…well Derek just really fucking misses Stiles.

Stiles and Derek were _best friends._ Derek never thought that there would be a time that he would find out something like Stiles being _gay_ over an offhanded comment that Stiles made to _Laura_ and Derek just happened to be standing there when it happened _._ It just really sucks that he doesn’t have his best friend anymore. And it sucks even harder that it’s been pretty much three years since Stiles ended their friendship in that casual way and Derek still hasn’t been able to replace him.

Not that Stiles is really someone that can be replaced.

But Derek hasn’t even come _close_ to finding a best friend that’s half as great as Stiles. Derek has friends. He has Boyd and he has Erica and Isaac and they’re great. He loves them. But they’re not Stiles.

And okay, maybe Derek has started to think that he might be a little gay too. Like, maybe bisexual. Because he sees girls and he likes what he sees and ever since puberty he’s had no problems jerking off to thoughts of him and whichever girl caught his eye that week. But after Stiles said he’s gay, Derek started to actually _look_ at Stiles.

Derek looked at Stiles as he ate a cheeseburger and Derek saw the ketchup spill on his hand and he watched as Stiles licked it off and then threw his head back and laughed at something his dad said (probably calling him a slob and telling him to use a napkin). Derek looked at his long, pale neck and how his Adam’s apple was bobbing as he laughed and all of a sudden he just had the urge to kiss and bite and lick up and down Stiles’ throat.

That night he didn’t jerk off to thoughts of random hot girls in his class. He jerked off to the thought of Stiles using that tongue to lick something on Derek. And it sure as hell wasn’t ketchup.

The problem Derek’s having is that he has no fucking idea how to come out. It just seems so awkward to sit down his family and tell them he’s bisexual. He’d rather not bring it up until he really feels like he has to. He knows that Laura would be cool with it, after seeing how she reacted to Stiles, but if Derek’s being honest with himself, he has no idea what his parents would think.

Derek figures that he’ll just wait until he actually gets a boyfriend. That way, when he tells his parents, they kind of have to accept it. Right? Because then it would be solid proof that it wasn’t “just a phase” and they would be able to tell he’s serious about it. Yeah, it’s not the best idea Derek has ever had but if he’s being honest with himself, he’s pretty fucking terrified.

Derek thinks that maybe he could just get Stiles’ attention in someway. Because let’s be honest, Derek knows that he _likes_ Stiles. Sure, he hasn’t really talked to him the way that they used to in a long time, but wouldn’t Derek have had an easier time getting over Stiles and him drifting apart if they were simply nothing but childhood best friends? Something tells Derek that he’s had _feelings_ for Stiles for longer than he even knew.

Also, every time he looks at Stiles his heart starts hammering in his chest. He tries to just smile at him in the halls at school as if he isn’t internally freaking out and trying to figure out a way to get Stiles to notice him again, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult.

Derek feels that if he could get Stiles to like him again and possibly even – he’s being optimistic here – be his _boyfriend,_ then Stiles would be able to help him with the whole coming out process. So, Derek does everything he can think of to try and get Stiles’ attention without outright begging him to notice Derek again.

Sometimes, when Derek’s working out, he’ll even purposely make sure to leave the curtains open in his room when he knows Stiles is in his and hope that he’ll catch a glimpse of Derek and maybe like what he sees. Derek doesn’t particularly _love_ working out (he’d much rather be staring at the TV playing video games or watching reruns of Lost – Stiles got him into it when they were still attached at the hip and Derek will be forever grateful) and he got enough in at lacrosse so he didn’t really _have_ to work out at home.

But he couldn’t help but hope that if maybe, just maybe Stiles happens to walk by the window and see him working out, Stiles might actually find Derek attractive and possibly run over to Derek’s house, storm up to his room, say something that could be pulled out of a really fucking cheesy porno, something along the lines of “ _Why get exercise like that when you can get exercise like this?”_ and then proceed to push Derek against the wall and rip his pants off and just have his way with Derek and once they’re finished and Stiles has left traces of fire all over Derek’s skin from the lingering touch of his long fingers, he’d whisper in Derek’s ear something like oh, “ _Now that we’re all sweaty, maybe it’s time for a shower?”_ (might as well stick with the cheesy porno theme) and then he’d grab Derek’s hand and pull him into his ensuite bathroom and it would be Derek’s turn to push him against the wall and work him in ways that Derek has only ever dreamed of.

And then, of course, after Stiles and him have had mind-blowing sex, Stiles would willingly help Derek come up with the best possible way to tell his family he’s bisexual and everything would work out perfectly. 

  **Stiles**  

Stiles has grown to hate his bedroom. When he was younger, he loved it because Derek and him were best fucking friends and since their rooms were right across from each other they’d sometimes just talk late at night if one of them couldn’t sleep or just yell each other’s name through the window if they wanted to hang out. But now, being in his room while Derek is in his is absolute torture.

It seems like anytime that Stiles comes into his room and walks by the window Derek’s fucking shirtless and lifting weights or doing push ups or just looking so hot and sweaty that it makes Stiles want to run over there, storm up to Derek’s room, and lick every trace of sweat off of his God-like body.

It isn’t fucking fair! They’re in _high school;_ how does Derek already look like a male model? And on top of that: how is Stiles supposed to get over the undying love he has for this kid if he does shit like that all the time? God hates him. That’s really the only conclusion Stiles can come to at this point. He gets pleasure from watching Stiles’ pain.

If only Derek were gay. Then maybe their friendship could have developed into something more and they could’ve been that adorable couple in movies that grew up living next to each other and were best friends and fell in love and had lots and lots of sex and got married and had an incredible amount of sex and had babies and lived happily ever after while having so much sex it would impress a porn star.

But to Stiles chagrin, Derek isn’t gay. And that’s why Stiles had to slowly drift himself away from Derek. Not because straight guys and gay guys can’t be friends, that’s fucking stupid, Scott is straight (probably) and Stiles and Scott share every boring detail of their lives with each other. It’s because once Stiles started noticing _wow, Derek’s looking up at me while I’m rambling and his eyes are just so fucking unreal holy shit and his lips make me want to kiss that small smile he has on right now off his face_ and Stiles thought to himself _that’s probably not what I should be thinking about when I’m talking to my best dude friend_ and Stiles realized that holy fucking shit, he wants to put his dick in Derek’s ass and fuck him until he’s screaming Stiles’ name. Which, in turn, essentially helped Stiles realize that he’s gay.

Granted, they were in 7th grade at this point so Stiles was hoping he could just blame it on puberty making his hormones go crazy. But then Stiles started having _feelings_ towards Derek and he knew that this was more than just teenage hormones. Stiles was really fucking hoping that his feelings for him would just fade. Like, now that Stiles was able to acknowledge the feelings for what they were, he would just get the fuck over it. A crush is just a little short-term thing, right? Stiles just had a crush on Derek, that’s all.

If that was the case, though, then why was it that once he acknowledged that fact, the feelings just _kept coming?_ Stiles knew, he fucking _knew_ , that nothing could come out of him having feelings for Derek. Stiles knew that attempting to act on any of his feelings would just lead to ruining their friendship.

Stiles also knew that continuing to go on like he didn’t have feelings for Derek and pretending everything was normal would end up breaking him. So, Stiles figured the best bet would be to distance himself from Derek so that it seemed that they just drifted apart. That kind of shit happens everyday.

But that doesn’t mean that every time that they pass each other in the hall and Derek smiles that small, open smile at Stiles with a little furrow in his fucking ridiculous eyebrows, and he looks at Stiles like he’s just trying to _understand_ …it doesn’t mean that Stiles’ chest doesn’t _ache._

They’re sophomores now and Stiles came out to his dad right before school started. He figured it was time (his dad naturally took it amazingly because he’s the best dad ever – told Stiles that he’ll love him no matter what and a bunch of other mushy gushy bullshit before having the most awkward sex talk of all time). After about three years of knowing wholeheartedly that he’s definitely gay, Stiles made the conscious decision that he was really fucking okay with it and he wanted to go into his sophomore year of high school loud and proud and gay!

The only person he had ever talked about possibly maybe being gay with was his mom, before she…yeah. And she had looked at him in his seventh grade, twelve year old eyes, after he did what he does best and blurted out the thing that he had been thinking about constantly and said, _“I think Derek is hot”_ and she looked at what Stiles was sure was a completely mortified expression because he just _blurted out_ that he thought _Derek Hale_ was hot to his _mom._

Anyway, she stared into Stiles’ eyes and Stiles forced himself to stare right back into her matching eyes and she said _“Stiles, baby, you can think whoever you want is_ hot _.”_ She let out a small laugh at the word choice. “ _Because that doesn’t change who you are as a person. Liking boys or liking girls has nothing to do with who you are. I’ll love you no matter who you think is hot.”_

Stiles let out a long breath and wiped at the tears that had unknowingly fell down his face. He said, _“I love you so much, mom”_ just as the nurse came into the room to ask his mom if she needed anything. When the nurse left, his mom squeezed the hand that was intertwined in hers just before she fell asleep.

She died that night. And even though Stiles was broken and crying and clutching to his dad when the doctor told them, Stiles could not help but think that his mom and him had the best conversation to end it on because yeah, he had been there pretty much every night since the cancer had gotten bad enough that she needed to be hospitalized but that night was different. His mom died knowing who Stiles is, completely and totally, and she was fine with it. She didn’t even look at Stiles any different. She loved him just the same as she always had.

And that next day, when Stiles was curled up in his blankets, sobbing, he allowed himself to let Derek walk in his bedroom and just hold him while he cried. Stiles allowed himself one last day with the best friend he ever had and the guy that unknowingly helped him figure out who he is and in turn, let Stiles’ mom die knowing exactly who her son is.

Derek would probably never know how much Stiles really and truly appreciated what he had unknowingly done for Stiles – especially not now that Stiles had made the decision to distance himself from Derek – but Stiles tried to let him see how thankful he was for Derek that day. He looked into Derek’s eyes, willing Derek to understand just how much he meant to Stiles. Stiles didn’t know if he was able to get the point across, but he hoped that by simply letting Derek see Stiles in that state, he was showing Derek how much he trusted him.

Derek may never understand why Stiles stopped hanging out with him all the time, but Stiles made himself believe that even if it confused Derek at first, Derek would inevitably move past it. He had to, because there was no way in hell that Stiles was going to tell Derek that the reason they had to stop being friends was because Stiles did the unthinkable and fell for him.

Now they’re fifteen and they see each other at family barbeques and everything’s fine. It’s fine. Stiles can very clearly see that Derek has only gotten hotter and hotter now that they’re in high school and Derek’s playing lacrosse. But Stiles is coping with this. He can objectively notice the outright beauty that is Derek Hale and not be completely swooned by it. He can, he swears.

And if Stiles accidently lets the image of Derek licking the stupid vanilla ice cream that they all had for dessert at the barbeque off his spoon, accidently enter his thoughts as he’s having his Personal Stiles Time later on that night…well, that’s his business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is getting to know the background of their relationship and how they got to where they are now. Next chapter is when we’ll be completely in the present. Conversations will happen…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I would update every Friday, but I've been writing so much this weekend that I really want to post something - I hope that's okay with everyone!
> 
> I listened to [this playlist](http://8tracks.com/upinsmokes/play-crack-the-playlist) while writing this chapter, if you’re interested.

  **Derek**  

They’re a month into school and Derek has continued to fail to get Stiles’ attention. He shouldn’t even be surprised. They haven’t been friends for _three fucking years._ Stiles probably rarely even thinks about Derek anymore. How is Derek suppose to not only get Stiles to start talking to him again, but actually get them to become close enough for Stiles to help Derek come out?

Derek is lost in these thoughts in the middle of lunch and has been staring at the sandwich in his hands for the past five minutes. He gets hit with something on the side of the head.

“Uh, ow?” Derek raises an eyebrow at Erica, who just threw an apple at him.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Derek? You’ve been staring at that sandwich like it’s responsible for murdering your puppy for the past _five minutes_!”

“I don’t have a puppy,” Derek deadpans. Erica continues staring at him, unrelenting. Derek sighs. “Nothing’s wrong. I just have a lot on my mind.” Derek turns away from his friend’s eyes and takes a bite out of his sandwich. He can’t talk about this with them yet. He needs to figure this shit out if his plan to rely on Stiles helping him isn’t going to work.

He looks up and Isaac is looking at him in that concerned way that only he can manage, like there’s literally no bigger problem in the world than Derek’s internal debate with himself. “You know you can talk to us about anything, right?”

Derek just nods and offers him a small smile that he hopes says, _I know and I will but I’m just not ready to at the moment._ After another minute of Isaac looking at him with a sad smile and Erica looking at him like she’s ready to beat the information out of him, Boyd sits down and they all snap out of the weird silence and start talking about something that Derek tunes out, but makes sure to nod like he’s listening every once in a while.

They’re half way through lunch when Derek can’t take being around people anymore because his thoughts are going crazy in his head and he can’t focus. He gathers his stuff, tells his friends that he’ll meet up with them later, and goes to the locker room because he figures he might as well get ready for gym, which he has next period.

When he gets to the locker room, it seems empty. He goes to his locker and starts changing clothes when he begins to hear muffled sounds. He’s got his gym shorts on and sneakers but hasn’t put on his t-shirt yet, when he goes to see what the sounds are. Two rows down, he freezes.

Stiles is making out with some random guy that’s on the lacrosse team (Rick? Nick? Derek doesn’t fucking know and he honestly doesn’t care). Stiles and Dick seem like they’re getting pretty hot and heavy and Derek thinks about ignoring it, turning around and finishing getting changed like he saw nothing, but he really doesn’t want to have to listen to them get any further than making out so he decides to make his presence known.

Derek clears his throat loudly, enough to get Stiles and Dick’s attention. Stiles sputters when he sees Derek but Dick just gives Derek a cold look like he’s pissed at him for interrupting. Well, Dick can go fuck himself. Stiles starts flailing and he looks like he’s about to say something but Derek doesn’t really want to have a conversation right now so he just says, “You guys might want to finish that off somewhere else, people will be coming in here to get ready for gym soon” and then turns around to walk back to his locker.

He hears some mumbling and possibly an apology from Stiles and Dick sounds mad but he just stalks out of the locker room – not before throwing a glare in Derek’s direction. Derek is gripping at the gym shirt in his hands and fighting with himself not to start punching lockers. He’s pissed. At himself, mostly. Of course Stiles is making out with other guys. Stiles is fucking sexy and Derek’s sure that when word got out that he’s gay, any guy in Beacon Hills that is remotely curious would be ready to jump at the chance to get with Stiles.

Derek doesn’t know how long he stands there, staring at the t-shirt he’s gripping in his hands – he really needs to stop getting lost in his thoughts and staring at inanimate objects – but he’s pretty sure Stiles already left the locker room. Which is, of course, when Stiles walks up to the row of lockers where Derek is.

Derek stares at Stiles and Stiles looks…sheepish? Why does Stiles look sheepish? Derek is the one that broke up his make out session with a relatively attractive guy simply because he couldn’t handle the thought of Stiles doing anything more than kissing a guy that wasn’t Derek. Derek should be the one that’s embarrassed.

Stiles doesn’t know that though, so maybe Stiles thinks that Derek broke it up because he had a problem with guys kissing? Oh God, if Stiles thinks Derek is homophobic then Derek’s plan will really and truly never see the light of day. Plus, that would still make Derek the asshole in this equation and Stiles should not look sheepish.

Stiles opens his mouth to speak and Derek holds his breath because he has no idea what Stiles is going to say.

  **Stiles**  

Oh God, nipples. Derek Hale’s nipples are staring at him. How the hell is Stiles suppose to focus on talking when Derek Hale’s nipples are looking him in the eye? This is just another sample of God hating him. Nothing’s ever fair, it seems.

“So, uh…” Great start, Stiles. Fantastic way to break the ice. Fuck, now Derek’s glaring at him. How did Stiles already manage to make this situation worse than it was?

Stiles tries to start over, “Yeah, so…” Goddamnit, Stiles. He’s been out of practice on Derek’s glares. He used to be able to read them like the back of his hand. The fact that he can’t decipher that particular glare with that particular eyebrow furrow is making Stiles even more nervous.

“That was – that was just…” Fucking magnificent, now Stiles is stuttering like a twelve year old that just got caught staying up past his bedtime.

“I’m sorry you had to see that. I wasn’t paying attention to the time and didn’t realize that someone was in here.” Perfect, a full sentence! Stiles does a mental fist pump but tries to make his face stay apologetic.

Derek looks at him like he’s crazy, though. Maybe it was too early for that mental fist pump.

“You don’t have to apologize, Stiles. People always come in here during free periods and hookup. I just wanted to make sure that you guys knew class was about to start before you got any further and had fifteen guys walking in on you.”

Wait a second, is Derek implying that he thinks Stiles would go further than making out with someone in a boy’s locker room in the middle of the school day? What kind of person does Derek think Stiles is? He ain’t no hussy! Stiles sure as hell has more dignity than to start some dick on dick action when a teacher could walk in at any moment; he’d at least wait until school was over. He has _class_ , thank you very much.

Stiles narrows his eyes at Derek because he has to show him that he is not happy with him in some way. “Thanks so much for your public service.” Stiles makes sure to lay on the sarcasm really thick. Derek looks like he’s about to say something but Stiles just walks out of the locker room.

As Stiles starts walking to his next class he has to wonder if maybe possibly he overreacted to Derek implying he may have gone further in the locker room. Derek seemed genuine when he said that he just didn’t want people walking in on him and Eric. Maybe Derek was really just trying to save Stiles from some embarrassment. Great, now Stiles feels like shit for being rude to Derek back there.

Stiles gets hit with a wave of sadness, his knees nearly buckling under the shock of it. He hasn’t— _doesn’t_ let himself think about how things would be if he and Derek were still best friends. He pushes away the memories of Stiles carelessly jumping off swings scratching up his knees and elbows so much that Derek actually started bringing a first aid kit in his backpack whenever they went to the park down the street. He pushes away the memories of climbing trees with Derek, racing to see who can get to the top first and laughing when Derek always – _without fail ­_ – chose the tree that’s branches were sporadic, so he was physically unable to get to the top. Derek always huffed and puffed like it was the tree’s fault then smiled up at Stiles when Stiles screamed his victory, like Derek would prefer Stiles to win anyway. Stiles pushes away these memories because it hurts too much and it makes Stiles doubt that he made the right decision.

Stiles leans against a locker and breathes, shaking his head. He knows if he continued his friendship with Derek, he would just end up falling harder and it wouldn’t be healthy for Stiles. He doesn’t care that he was only in seventh grade when he made the decision because it felt real and every little encounter they had since proves Stiles right. Because all Derek has to do is lift his mouth in a half smile in Stiles’ direction for Stiles’ heart to flutter. Stiles doesn’t even know what Derek’s like anymore, not really. But, he knows he saw Derek punch Jackson after Jackson threw some kid in a dumpster and he knows that despite Derek’s obvious good looks, he’s modest—blushed when Stiles’ dad told him he’s “bulking up” and that “the ladies will be taking notice.”

The bell rings and Stiles starts walking again, back to his own locker. Ignoring Derek’s impressive abs and _nipples_ would be much easier if he didn’t know that Derek is still a good person. He may have different interests since the last time Stiles and him were friends, it’s been three years after all, but there’s something in Derek that Stiles knows will always be inherently _good._ It’s thoughts like these that reinforce Stiles’ decision.

Stiles might have to call up Eric again tonight to let out some of his frustration, even though Eric is kind of an asshole and a super sloppy kisser. Stiles needs someone to take his mind off of Derek and he honestly doesn’t feel like putting the effort into finding anyone else today.

Stiles pulls his Jeep into the driveway when he gets home and turns off the car immediately, heart rate picking up when he sees his dad’s cruiser parked in front of the house. His dad isn’t supposed to be home until late tonight and only ever stops home during his shift for lunch, which it’s long past. He jogs up to the door, trying to keep his calm. If something bad really happened then his dad would have texted him or _something,_ right? Right.

The door is open when he gets to it, so he doesn’t have to worry about fumbling with his keys and he’s grateful. He steps into the front room, which they never even use and goes through the kitchen to the den, where his dad is in the recliner watching the news.

Stiles just stands there for a moment, looking down at his dad. His dad looks up and pats Stiles’ arm. “How was your day?”

“What are you doing home? What’s wrong? You never come home during your shift.”

His dad picks up the remote, taking his time putting the TV on mute. “Whoa, there. Take a breath. Everything’s fine. I needed to talk to you about something. Have a seat.”

“This doesn’t sound like everything’s fine,” Stiles grumbles. But, he sits. Looking at his dad expectantly.

His dad rubs a hand down his face, stalling. Stiles makes a _go on_ motion with his hand. “The Hales…” A pause. Stiles is about to _scream._ “Talia got a job offer. It’s an incredible opportunity for her.”

“Okay…” Stiles doesn’t get why this is a Sit Down Conversation. So what if Mrs. Hale got a new job? How does this affect them?

“It’s…in New York. They’re moving.”

Stiles stops breathing. He tries to imagine that. Not seeing Mr. Hale getting the newspaper every morning when Stiles leaves for school. Not pushing Cora on the tire swing during family get-togethers. Not having Mrs. Hale hugging him tight any time she sees him, no matter what time of day. And…Derek. Not having Derek. Stiles swallows and ignores the stinging behind his eyes.

His dad barrels on. “Laura already goes to college down there, so that’ll be nice for her. And Cora…she’s young enough for it to not be _that_ big of a deal. Mr. Hale works from home, anyway, so that won’t be a problem…”

Stiles nods. It’s all perfectly reasonable. He’s trying not to think. He wants this conversation to be over.

His dad twists his fingers together. “But, Derek…”

Stiles’ head jolts up to connect eyes with his dad’s. “What about Derek?” Stiles hates that his voice cracks on Derek’s name. He doesn’t want to lose him. He doesn’t care that they haven’t truly been friends since seventh grade. He doesn’t know what he would do without being able to look out his window and see Derek there.

“Derek’s half way through high school, only has a couple years left. It doesn’t seem right to uproot him and take him across the country.”

“Yeah…but, dad. That’s not really your decision.” Since when does his dad question Mr. and Mrs. Hale’s parenting choices? They’re his best friends.

“Well, no. It’s yours.”

The room is silent. Stiles hears a siren going off in the distance and the room remains silent until he can no longer hear the siren. “What—what do you mean?”

His dad visibly swallows. “I know it’s not necessarily fair to you. Derek won’t know that it came down to your decision if—if you say no, but Talia came and talked to me about the possibility of Derek…staying here. Until he finishes high school. She doesn’t feel right about making him uproot his life, either. I told her I had to speak with you, of course. I know you boys aren’t as close as you used to be. I wouldn’t want to do anything that would compromise _your_ happiness, son. You always come first in my book.”

Stiles drops back on the couch, staring at the ceiling. He breathes, in through his nose, holds it, exhales slowly. He does this three times. “Dad, I—.”

“I know this is a lot to spring on you. I should have told you about this sooner, I didn’t realize Talia wanted to move by the end of October. You can take the rest of the night, sleep on it, and let me know tomorrow. But, Stiles. Don’t make any sacrifices. If this is something you’re not comfortable with, that’s _okay._ ” His dad sounds adamant on that and Stiles is grateful, really. But, the fact of the matter is that if Stiles says no, Derek has to leave Beacon Hills, has to leave lacrosse, basketball, whatever other sports he plays, has to leave his friends, has to leave _Stiles._

“Let’s do it.”

His dad pauses and Stiles sits up, looking at his dad again. “Stiles, you can take your time to think about this. You don’t have to make a decision right—.”

“Dad, we’re letting him live here. Yeah, me and Derek drifted apart, but I care about him. He’s like a son to you and the Hales are family. I’m not gonna be the reason Derek’s life turns upside down. It wouldn’t be fair.”

His dad scrunches his eyes up, skeptical. “Stiles…”

“Dad, I mean it. Let’s welcome Derek Hale to the Stilinski household. Hopefully he doesn’t mind the awful stench your socks leave around.”

His dad laughs and cuffs Stiles on the head. “Shut up.” He sobers when his laugh quiets down. “You’re sure?”

“Completely.”

His dad nods. “I’ll let Talia know. I think she’s discussing it with Derek tonight.”

Stiles gets up to go to his room. He’s going from forcibly avoiding Derek for three years to having him as a roommate. Stiles doesn’t know what this is going to do to him. He doesn’t know if it’s going to hurt him or if it’s going to prove him wrong and him and Derek actually can be friends or if something entirely different will happen. But, he knows that this is the right decision. He wonders how Derek is going to react to the news; maybe Derek will _want_ to go to New York with his family. If not, though, Derek will be moving in by the end of October. This should be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My cousin actually stayed with my other aunt’s family when his family moved across the country his Junior year of high school. So, this idea may sound wild to you, but it does happen! They didn’t want to take him from high school when he was almost finished, especially since he was so involved and played on so many teams.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, people. The plot…it’s truly beginning.

  **Derek**  

Derek parks Laura’s Camaro in the driveway when he gets home. Derek likes to think of it as _his_ Camaro, but he knows if Laura ever heard him referring to it as his, she would probably rip his throat out…with her teeth. Or, you know, punch him. Either way, Derek wouldn’t like that happening, so he tries to keep referring to it as Laura’s in his mind, so he doesn’t accidentally slip out loud.

When he walks inside, slipping off his shoes in the front hall, his mom pops up to greet him. “Good.” She kisses his forehead. “You’re home.” Her voice is higher pitched than usual. Derek thinks she might even sound nervous, something that’s very rare for his mother.

“Is everything alright?”

She squeezes his shoulder. “Yes, of course. Me and your father just want to speak with you and Cora.”

“Uh, okay. Now?”

“Yeah. Just go upstairs and get settled. Put your things away and then come downstairs when you’re ready.”

Derek’s mind begins racing as he walks up the stairs, his feet feeling heavier and heavier with each step. His mom said everything’s alright, but something in him suggests otherwise. He throws his backpack on his bed and immediately tramples down the stairs, knowing that the longer he waits to face the conversation, the more anxious he’ll get. Derek doesn’t do anxious well.

“What’s up?” He says when he takes a seat at the kitchen table. His mom is already sitting there and his dad looks to be preparing dinner.

“Let me go get Cora,” his mom says.

When she comes back with Cora, his dad puts the pan in the oven and then they’re all sitting around the kitchen table.

“Me and your father have something to tell you two. We’ve already spoken to Laura and she’s very excited by it, so we hope you two will feel the same.” She pauses and looks from Cora to Derek, eyes lingering on Derek. “I got a job offer, something I’ve been working toward for a long, long while.”

Cora jumps up from her chair and wraps her arms around their mom’s shoulders. “You’re so smart, mom!”

“Thank you, sweetie.” She hugs back for a moment and then directs Cora to sit down, apparently unfinished with the news. “This means changes will be happening, though. For all of us.”

Derek pushes his right eyebrow down, mouth wrinkled to the side, so he could bite at the inside of his lip. _What does that mean?_ He asks as much out loud. “Mom, what does that mean?”

She intertwines her fingers with his dad’s and Derek watches the exchange, worried. “It means we’ll have to move.”

Derek nods. That’s fine. If he has a longer commute to school, he doesn’t care. His mom seems really happy about the job, even though there’s been some tension throughout this conversation. “So, what? I mean, yeah. I’ll miss the house, but we love you, mom. If this job makes you happy, I can deal with waking up a little earlier to drive to school.” Derek smiles encouragingly at his mom and she returns his smile, though hers looks sad.

“To New York. We’ll have to move to New York.”

Derek doesn’t even take a moment to process. _“What?”_ He yells.

His dad cuts in for the first time through this conversation. “Derek, keep your voice down.”

“I’m not _moving_ to _New York_ , okay? I have a life here. I have friends and lacrosse and everything else. I’m not moving. I don’t care. You can’t make me.”

His mom’s mouth is in a thin line, annoyed with Derek. What does she expect? “If you’d let us finish, maybe you wouldn’t be so angry.”

“Nothing you can say is going to make this okay, mom!” Derek is humiliated to find that his eyes are welling up with tears. He clenches his hands into fists.

“Will we get to see Laura more often?” Cora asks.

“Yes, baby. We’ll be living right by her college.”

Cora smiles. “Let’s go now!”

Derek can’t take this. “Shut up, Cora! We’re not going anywhere!”

His mom whips her head up to him, shooting daggers with her eyes. “Do _not_ talk to your sister like that, Derek. You are out of line.”

“She’s a _baby_ and doesn’t get what this means. Cora, you’ll have to leave all your friends. You’ll never see them again.”

Cora shrugs. “I don’t really have many friends.”

Derek hates that his heart lurches in his chest for his little sister. He’s supposed to be pissed. His mom must notice the change in him because she tells Cora to go to her room and then occupies the seat next to Derek.

“Derek, please breathe.” His mom puts her hand on Derek’s shoulder.

His dad wraps his hand around Derek’s clenched fist. “Listen to us.”

Derek looks away from them, but stays seated.

“We have a different option for you. We didn’t want to just take you from your life when you’re almost done with high school.”

Derek turns to look at them. “What do you mean?”

“We talked to Mr. Stilinski. You can stay with him and Stiles until you finish high school.”

Derek lets himself feel a little hope, but he’s still not convinced. “How does Stiles feel about that?”

“Mr. Stilinski talked to him after school today and said Stiles is completely sure about you staying there with them.”

Derek is shocked that Stiles said he’s okay with it, especially after their interaction in the locker room. Stiles seemed pissed at him, but he’s still gonna let Derek just walk into his house and _live_ there for _three years?_ This seems unlikely.

His mom squeezes his shoulder. “It’s up to you, Derek. You can come to New York with us, of course, but we’re not going to force you to do that. You have a home at the Stilinski’s house, if you want it. As far as Christmas or Spring Break or Summer Vacation, we’ll talk about that when we get to it. We’re thinking you can come to New York during those times.”

Derek sits back in his chair, feeling comforted by the slight squeeze on his shoulder and his dad rubbing his thumb back and forth on his wrist. He’s so close with his family; could he really just let them move across the country without him? But, he can’t imagine leaving Beacon Hills. “I’d…miss you so much.” Derek swallows and doesn’t connect eyes with them, embarrassed.

“We’d miss you too, sweetie. But, we’ll FaceTime all the time and we’ll still be there for you even if we’re not there physically. The Stilinskis have been like family since even before Laura was born. You’ll be safe with them.”

“I know.” And Derek does know. Despite him and Stiles drifting apart or whatever happened to them, he knows that Mr. Stilinski looks at Derek like a son—he’s said as much to Derek on multiple occasions. And Stiles has never been _cruel_ to Derek. “I think I need to think about it, if that’s okay.”

“Take your time. Go upstairs and get started on your homework and come get us if you need anything.”

Derek nods and gets up, walking upstairs. He flops down on his bed and wonders what the hell he’s going to do.

  **Stiles**  

“Talia called.” They’re sitting on the couch watching reruns of _How I Met Your Mother_ and treating themselves to a small cup of ice cream.

Stiles puts down his ice cream and turns to look at his dad. “What did she say?”

“Derek needs time to think about it. Talia said he threw a fit when they broke the news.”

Stiles shakes his head. “That’s not surprising. Derek’s always had a bit of a temper.” Stiles feels like an imposter, talking about Derek like he knows him. Stiles hasn’t had the right to talk like that for three years.

“Maybe if you…” His dad exhales and readjusts himself on the couch, clearly uncomfortable with whatever he’s about to suggest. “Maybe it’s because you two aren’t as close as you used to be. If you talked to him…let him know you’re okay with him staying here, it could make him feel more at ease.”

Stiles turns back to the TV and picks at the skin around his nails. When was the last time he _really_ talked to Derek? Their conversation in the locker room this morning was one of the longest conversations they’ve had in a while. Is it really Stiles’ place to try and convince Derek to _live_ with him? Derek can make his own decisions.

After he’s destroyed his entire left hand, he begins to think his dad may be right. Stiles has given Derek no reason to feel comfortable around him, let alone living with him. Especially after he overreacted earlier and stormed out of the locker room. Stiles says goodnight to his dad and walks upstairs to his room.

He sees Derek at his desk in his room and Stiles walks over to his window before his brain can catch up with his actions and lifts it. “ _Derek._ ” Derek doesn’t budge in his room, so Stiles whispers a little louder. “ _Derek!_ ” Still nothing. Stiles looks around his room for something to throw at Derek’s window and sees the mason jar full of little shells. He takes a shell out and goes back to his window, lifting the screen. He throws the shell at Derek’s window accompanied by another, “ _Derek!_ ” Derek’s head jerks up from whatever he’s doing and he connects eyes with Stiles, eyebrows doing a little dance on his forehead before walking to the window and lifting it.

Stiles just looks at Derek looking at him and wonders what the hell he just did. He hasn’t even thought about what he’s going to say. He just knows he has to say _something._ Something that’ll make Derek feel comfortable with staying in their house.

Before he can figure out what that is, Derek speaks. “What did you throw at my window?” He doesn’t seem angry, just curious.

Stiles feels himself blushing. “A shell, dude. Don’t worry. It probably didn’t like…scratch up your window or anything.”

Derek tilts his head at Stiles. “That’s not—I’m not worried.” He pauses. “Wait…a shell?” Stiles nods and Derek smiles. Stiles’ heart doesn’t react to that smile. It doesn’t. “As in, a shell from our collection? From the beach?” Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Stiles doesn’t know what to say because if he denies it then Derek will either not believe him or think Stiles has a weird thing with shells. He just nods, thinking telling the truth is the fastest route out of this part of the conversation. “I can’t believe you still have that.” Derek’s voice is quiet and Stiles has to lean out of the window a bit further to hear him.

“Yeah, well. I guess I have a hoarding issue.” Stiles chuckles nervously. “Anyway, I hear we might be roomies soon.”

Derek looks away for a moment then back to Stiles. “Yeah, maybe.”

“What’s stopping you?”

Derek keeps looking at Stiles. Stiles doesn’t think he’s even blinking. “I don’t know. I—you know how close I am with my family.” Stiles nods because even if they’re not best friends anymore, that’s something that’s obvious to anyone that sees the Hale family interact. “I can’t imagine…” Derek gets a far off look in his eyes. “The first time I slept over your house, I cried.” Derek shakes his head and laughs. “My parents were right next door and you were by best friend—” Derek’s voice does a funny thing here. Like he didn’t quite mean to use those words. “And I still couldn’t handle being away from them. It took me forever to be able to spend a night alone without them. How am I gonna last three years?”

“Dude, you’re not in first grade anymore. You’re in high school.” Derek rolls his eyes like there’s not that big of a difference between first grade and high school. “You’ll talk to them all the time and see them on vacations. I don’t know, man. I think it would be a lot harder getting situated in a whole new area with all new people and making new friends then it would be to keep in touch with your family that loves you more than life.”

Derek lifts one side of his mouth in a smile. “Yeah, you’re right.” He looks like he wants to say something else, but thinks better of it.

“What?” Stiles pushes.

“Are you—I’m going to be in your house for three years. You’re going to have to live with me everyday. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

Okay. Stiles’ big moment. He’s got this. “Yes. I am completely sure and I told my dad that already. It’ll be like old times.” Stiles finds that he doesn’t have to force his smile as much as he thought he would have to. “Just know that I’ve grown out of wanting to sleep on the top bunk, though. That’s all you.”

“Oh, no. I think you’ve just convinced me into moving to New York.” Derek says seriously, but his tone is light. Stiles laughs.

“Shut up, dude. Think about it. I wanted to tell you personally that you’re welcome here. You’re always welcome here.”

Derek’s eyes are bright and Stiles’ heart is hammering in his chest. “Cool.”

“Goodnight, Derek. See you at school tomorrow.”

“Night, Stiles.” Stiles goes to close the window, but Derek speaks again. “And Stiles?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry about…” Derek looks uncomfortable. “The locker room today—I didn’t mean—.”

Stiles shakes his head, fast. “No, I completely overreacted. I just felt like an idiot.”

Derek starts shaking his head now. “There was no reason for you to feel like an idiot.”

“Yeah, well…” Stiles shrugs.

“See you tomorrow.” Derek closes his window, so Stiles follows suit.

He gets into bed and dreams of the ocean, seashells, and Derek’s hand intertwined with his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so remember the notes at the beginning of this whole thing where I said I was going to update every Friday? I mostly said that just in case I get a lull in my writing, but I haven't been able to stop, honestly. So, expect _at least_ a chapter every week, but don't be afraid to feel hope (?) that there will be more than one chapter because, I mean, this is the third chapter I'm posting this week SOOOOOOO


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I just updated yesterday, but I told you all that I would update every Friday, so...it just feels like I would be a filthy liar if I didn't update today, too.
> 
> [This is the playlist](http://8tracks.com/thismighthurt/don-t-make-a-sound-now) I listened to while writing this chapter!

  **Derek**  

Derek’s first thought when he wakes up is: _things are changing._ As he’s getting ready for school, he keeps repeating that in his head. Not on purpose. It’s like when a song gets stuck in his head and he can’t shake it. The conversation he had with Stiles last night made him realize that moving with his parents is not what he wants right now. He doesn’t know what moving in with Stiles is going to accomplish, but he knows that Stiles is noticing him. The conversation they had last night proves that. And the fact that he’s going to be waking up in Stiles’ _bedroom_ every morning—well, Stiles is going to be forced to notice him. Derek thinks that this whole thing might be the key. He’s not going to start bombarding Stiles with Coming Out For Dumbies questions as soon as he moves in over there, but Derek thinks living with him is going to make it a lot easier to work up to that point.

And…Stiles will be unable to avoid watching Derek work out, so whatever that means. (It means that Derek is going to prance around their room without a shirt and lifting weights in hopes of swooning Stiles). Derek tries to remember if “Eric” is muscular or skinny, but he can’t recall. Maybe Stiles isn’t into muscular guys. Derek isn’t going to stop working out if that’s the case, but he’ll try different swooning strategies. Derek splashes water on his face. _It’s too early to be thinking about this._

He walks downstairs and sits at the kitchen table, a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese placed in front of him as soon as his butt hits the seat. He looks up at his dad and smiles. His mom is pouring coffee into her to-go mug.

Derek swallows his first bite of deliciousness; the bagel is _so warm._ “I talked to Stiles last night.”

His mom perks up at that, turning from the coffee. “Really?”

“Yeah, and I think…I think I’m gonna stay here in Beacon Hills. With the Stilinskis.”

His dad and mom look at him, nodding slowing. His dad breaks the silence. “You’re sure that’s what you want?”

“Yeah, dad. It’s what I want.”

“Okay, then. We’ll talk to Mr. Stilinski today.”

At that point, Cora comes into the kitchen looking like she’s not even close to leaving for school and his mom groans. “Cora, we have to leave in _ten minutes._ If you’re not ready in ten minutes, you’re grounded for a week.”

“But, mom!”

“Don’t.”

Cora stomps out of the kitchen and back to her room. Derek goes back to eating his bagel.

_Things are changing._

Derek’s sitting at lunch with Isaac, Boyd, and Erica, as per usual. He takes a bite of his sandwich and listens to his friends talk about their plans for the weekend. Erica’s parents are going away and they’re probably all gonna go to her house. Not for a party, but just to hang out and laugh as loud as they want as late as they want. There’s a lull in the conversation and Derek puts his sandwich down.

“My family’s moving to New York at the end of October.”

All three of their heads jerk to look at him. “What?” “Are you fucking serious?” “How are you feeling?” Boyd looks a little surprised, Erica looks _livid_ , and Isaac looks concerned.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have started with that. I’m not going with them.” Derek takes a bite of his sandwich and continues chewing. They’re still staring at him. Derek finishes chewing. “What?”

Erica’s eyes bulge out of her head. “You can’t just drop a bomb and pretend it didn’t explode. What the hell is going on? What’s the full story? Is your family moving or not? If they are, how are you not?”

“My mom got a new job in New York. Her, my dad, and Cora are moving there for the job. They’re letting me stay here until I finish high school. I’m gonna be living with the Stilinskis.” Derek pops a chip into his mouth.

Isaac takes a chip from Derek. “How are you taking it?”

Derek shrugs. “It’s gonna be hard, but Mr. Stilinski has always been like a third parent to me. I should be okay.”

Erica raises her eyebrow. “Isn’t it gonna be weird, though? Living with _Stiles?_ ”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Derek’s eyes drift to Stiles’ table in the cafeteria. He sits with Scott, Allison, Lydia, Kira, Jackson, Danny, and a bunch of other people. Derek’s glad he doesn’t have to deal with that many voices during lunch.

Boyd takes a chip from Derek and Derek resigns to sharing. “I’m glad your parents aren’t making you go with them.”

“Me too.” Stiles connects eyes with him across the lunchroom and quirks his lips up in a smile. Derek returns it before looking back to his friends. “Things are changing.”

Erica takes a sip from her drink, not taking her eyes off of Derek. “You’re freaking me out.”

Derek laughs, Boyd chuckling with him. “Good.”

Erica shivers. 

  **Stiles**  

“So, Derek’s moving in with me.”

Scott drops the slice of pizza he was eating back onto the plate. “What do you _mean?_ ”

“I mean that Derek’s family is moving to New York, but they’re letting him stay here until he finishes high school and he’s going to be residing in my home, Scotty.”

Scott looks like Stiles has told him the wildest news to ever grace Scott’s ears. “Isn’t that gonna be weird, though? Dude, is he gonna share your bedroom?”

“Yeah, I have a bunk-bed. It makes sense. It won’t be too weird, I don’t think. It’s just like a really really _really_ long sleepover.”

“With someone you’re not even friends with.”

Stiles stomach does that twisty pain thing it does when he hears something he doesn’t want to hear. “Yeah, well. I wasn’t going to be the one that made him uproot his life just because I can’t handle having a roommate.”

“If it ever gets too weird, you know you can always stay at my place.”

Stiles smiles. “You’re the best, dude.”

Scott’s face lights up and his smile is so incredibly big that for a split second, Stiles is convinced he is face-to-face with Julia Roberts. He blinks and realizes that no, it’s just Scott. He’s not disappointed by the revelation. He loves Scott. “Oh, I forgot to tell you.” Stiles lowers his voice a little. “I hooked up with Eric.” Scott’s eyebrows crease in the middle. “You know, on the lacrosse team.”

Scott’s face brightens with recognition. “Yes! How was it?”

Stiles pauses and looks across the cafeteria. He connects eyes with Derek and smiles a little, happy to see Derek return the gesture. “It was _okay_ , honestly. He kisses like his mouth has too large of a saliva supply.”

Scott shudders. “That’s horrifying.”

“Yeah…it didn’t go too far, though. Derek walked in on us.”

“ _No way!_ You should’ve started with that part.”

“I wanted you to be proud of my charm and seduction before I told you it was a failed mission.” Scott rolls his eyes and Stiles continues. “He wasn’t weird about it or anything. Just kind of cleared his throat and grunted that the next class was going to be coming in soon. I gotta admit, I felt a little like an idiot.”

“Why, dude?”

“I don’t know. Derek Hale is…” Stiles eyes drift over to him again. “He’s _Derek._ Perfect body, perfect smile, perfect eyes, and perfect everything really.”

Scott snaps his fingers in front of Stiles’ face. “Are you daydreaming about Derek Hale?”

“No.” But, he says it too fast. A slow smile creeps over Scott’s face.

“You have a crush on him, don’t you? Is that why you’re letting him move in with you?”

“Shut up, Scott.” And he feels a little bad about how that came out, but he can’t think about this. “I don’t—that’s not why. I did it because the Hales are like family to me and my dad.”

Scott looks guilty. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—.”

“It’s fine.” Stiles voice takes on a lighter tone. “Back to more important matters. Which hot piece of man meat should be my next culprit?”

Scott starts scoping out the cafeteria and Stiles is happy for the new distraction.

Stiles gets home and goes straight to his room. It’s a pretty big space, so it shouldn’t be a problem to have Derek live here. He takes the sheets and comforter off the top bunk because he has no idea when the last time they’ve been washed was and goes about washing them. He gets back to his room and looks around. If Derek is going to be living here for _three years_ , he wants to make sure that Derek feels like it’s just as much his bedroom as it is Stiles’.

He goes to his desk, which has two shelves and clears one of them, making room on the top shelf for all of the items. It’s a little packed, but it fits. A photo of him and his parents, the mason jar of shells, a Batman action figure, a photo of him and Scott in a flimsy frame, and a bunch of other bullshit. He picks up the frame that holds the photo of him and Scott and very carefully pulls the picture out. Behind it is a faded picture of him and Derek when they were younger, both sitting on a large branch high up on a tree. Their parents had yelled at them to come down, but Laura got to them first and took a picture. She caught a moment where Stiles was laughing and Derek was smiling hugely, looking at Stiles. It’s one of Stiles’ favorite pictures. He covered it with the picture of him and Scott as some type of cleanse. He thought that the fewer reminders he had of Derek’s friendship, the easier it would be to let him go.

He pushes the picture of him and Scott back and places the frame on the shelf. He starts toward his closet, a deep fear building in him. He opens the closet and a soccer ball falls onto his head. He doesn’t even _like_ soccer. He’s happy he decided to start making room for Derek now because if he waited until the end of October, they would have been screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **COMING UP NEXT:**
> 
> Before Derek knows it, him and Stiles Stilinski are standing in front of a mirror, brushing their teeth together. Derek catches Stiles’ eyes in the mirror and Stiles smiles, causing toothpaste to drip down his chin. Derek feels a laugh bubbling in his chest so he stops brushing and spits, splashing some water in his mouth and swishing it around. “You’re ridiculous,” Derek says with a smile to Stiles before walking out of the bathroom.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re jumping about a month forward, so we can get to a bit of the action!
> 
> [Here](http://8tracks.com/isabellajane97/a-thousand-fiery-suns-of-angst) is the playlist I listened to while writing this chapter.

  **Derek**  

Derek is trying not to cry. He just finished helping pack the moving truck with everything in his house and his stomach keeps twisting uncomfortably. His mom and dad are talking to Mr. Stilinski in his front yard. Stiles is pushing Cora on the tire swing and Derek is standing there. Just existing. All of his stuff is in boxes in Stiles’ room already and he has a feeling it’s gonna be a little weird going from having his own room to sharing one—especially with _Stiles._ The same Stiles that he’s been pretty consistently jerking off to. The same Stiles that he’s depending on when it comes to coming out to his parents. The same Stiles that was his best friends for _years._

He tries to remind himself that he’s spent plenty of nights with Stiles when he was younger, but he knows that doesn’t mean anything anymore; those were the days where he was blissfully unaware of his feelings toward Stiles. He also tries to remind himself that this is ultimately a _good_ thing. Just a few weeks ago he was drowning in the incredible opportunities that living with Stiles was going to do for him. He needs to get back in that mindset.

His mom and dad start walking toward him. “Cora, get off the swing! We’re heading out!”

Derek watches as Cora tumbles off the swing and gives Stiles a hug, Stiles laughing and lifting her in the air. Derek turns back toward his parents. “So, you’re leaving me now?”

His mom gets a sad look in her eyes. “We’re not leaving _you_. But, yes, we’re leaving.”

“Same difference,” Derek mumbles.

“Derek, we’ve been over this. You’re welcome to come with us. We love you. We thought this is what you wanted.”

“I do,” Derek whispers, looking down.

“Then, what’s the problem?”

Derek looks up and can’t help the tear the drips down his cheek. He wipes it away fast, hoping no one noticed it. But, if the look on his parent’s face means anything, they definitely noticed. “I’m just gonna miss you guys.”

His dad throws his arms around Derek and squeezes Derek tight. His mom joins the hug and Cora seemingly can’t resist the pull of a group hug, so they all stand there, intertwined and breathing. “Derek?” Cora says quietly. “Why aren’t you coming with us?”

Derek steps away and looks at Cora, wiping at his cheeks again. “We've been over this. I gotta stay here, Cor. I gotta finish high school.”

Cora pouts a little. “But, I love you.”

Derek wraps his arms around his little sister. “I love you too. We’ll see each other soon.” He lets her go and his parents drop their hands on either side of his shoulders. “I love you.”

His mom smiles at him, eyes wet. “We love you, too. We’ll call you as soon as we land in New York, okay?” She drops a kiss on his cheek and begins walking away.

“Everything’s gonna be okay, Der.” His father kisses his other cheek.

“I know.” But, Derek doesn’t know if he believes it.

He walks over to the Stilinski’s yard, where they’re standing on the porch, and joins them. His family begins driving away and Derek watches, feeling his heart break just a little. A hand falls onto his shoulder and Derek turns, connecting eyes with Stiles. Stiles smiles at him, close-lipped and small, and squeezes Derek’s shoulder before letting his hand drop to his side.

Mr. Stilinski opens the screen door and Stiles walks inside. Mr. Stilinski looks to Derek. “Let’s get you something to eat, son.” Derek follows him inside and closes the door behind him, knowing that this is when things will truly begin changing.

Derek is brushing his teeth and trying _so hard_ to remember why he chose not to move with his family. There’s a knock on the half-open door and Derek turns to see Stiles. He raises his eyebrow at Stiles in question, unable to talk around the toothbrush in his mouth.

“Mind if I join you?”

Derek raises his other eyebrow. _What?_

“God I—brush my teeth. I, too, would like to brush my teeth.” He hears Stiles mutter to himself, _“Why does everything I say sound creepy?”_ before Stiles slides next to him in front of the sink and takes a toothbrush out.

Before Derek knows it, him and Stiles Stilinski are standing in front of a mirror, brushing their teeth together. Derek catches Stiles’ eyes in the mirror and Stiles smiles, causing toothpaste to drip down his chin. Derek feels a laugh bubbling in his chest so he stops brushing and spits, splashing some water in his mouth and swishing it around. “You’re ridiculous,” Derek says with a smile to Stiles before walking out of the bathroom.

Derek realizes it’s the first time he’s genuinely smiled since his parents and Cora left earlier that day. He wants this to work. He wants to be able to fall back into step with Stiles. Maybe things can’t be like they used to be, but Derek doesn’t want to leave Beacon Hills. Stiles, for the most part, seems completely fine with Derek being in his space. There was the one moment at dinner where Stiles dropped his fork and Derek picked it up for him and somehow, someway, ended up gently running his fingertips across Stiles’ wrist. Derek watched Stiles _shiver_ and that’s when it hit him that this may be harder than he originally thought. Derek and Stiles used to have tickle fights, for Christ’s sake, but Stiles wasn’t even comfortable with a quick touch. Derek needed to earn Stiles’ trust back, so that Derek could feel comfortable confiding in him. And Derek was ready for the challenge. If anything, it will give Derek something to focus on besides the fact that his family is now living _across the country_ from him.

This was going to take some getting used to.

  **Stiles**  

When Stiles walks back to his bedroom after brushing his teeth, Derek is already in bed, scrolling through his phone. “Alright, Derek. Let’s do this. First night as roomies. It’s happening. Tell me how you like it.”

Derek puts his phone down and turns to Stiles. “Like _what_ exactly?”

Stiles rolls his eyes because this should be obvious, he thinks. “Uh, sleeping? Like, do you want the door open—” Stiles gestures to the open door. “or closed.” Stiles closes the door. “Do you like it pitch black—” Stiles shuts off the big light and sputters for a second because he can’t actually _see_ anything. “or do you prefer a small light?” Stiles turns the light back on, just because. “Or the TV—.”

“Did you just ask if I need a night light?”

“We don’t have to call it a night light, dude. We can call it a…guide. A guide to seeing if there are any monsters lurking in corners.”

Derek truly sits up now, completely upright. Stiles is surprised he doesn’t bang his head on the ceiling. “Do _you_ need a night light?”

“Ahem. I thought we agreed to call it a _guide._ ”

Derek chuckles and Stiles tries not to melt at the sound of it. “Right, of course. Do you need a _guide,_ Stiles?” He pauses, getting a serious look on his face. “If you do, that’s fine. I’m not judging.”

Stiles takes a moment to ask himself, hoping himself will have the answer, _why is Derek so thoughtful and perfect in everyway when Stiles just wants to be bros?_ Himself _does_ answer, actually, but it’s only to say, _psht, you do_ not _only want to be bros with Derek Hale._ He tells himself to shut up. “I don’t. I just want to make sure you’re comfortable.” Stiles swallows and determinedly looks at a point above Derek’s head. “I want to make sure you feel at home here.” It’s quiet, for a moment. Stiles looks back to Derek and Derek is smiling, soft, tender. _Tender? Really, brain?_

“Thank you. I’m more of an old-fashioned sleeper, though. Lights off and no noise.”

“Perfect because honestly if you were someone that needed a TV to sleep, well, off to New York you’d go.” Stiles says it as a joke and Derek smiles _again._ Ugh.

Stiles shuts off the light and hurries to the bottom bunk, diving under the covers. It’s quiet and he listens as Derek settles in the bunk above him. “Night, Stiles.”

Stiles heart does something weird in his chest. He can’t remember the last time that Derek’s said goodnight to him. It should be something insignificant. It shouldn’t matter. But, every night they used to yell goodnight to each other through their windows. Every single night, unless one of them was on vacation. Everything that Derek does makes Stiles see more and more of what he’s been _missing._ It’s funny, really, how someone could miss something and not even know it until they’re reminded of it. “Night,” Stiles returns, and if Derek notices the change in his voice, the scratchiness that intertwined with his vocal cords for that one word, he doesn’t say anything. Stiles is appreciative.

Stiles grumpily walks downstairs the next morning, backpack slung over his shoulder. He sees movement happening in the kitchen and Derek is at the counter, swiping cream cheese on a bagel. Stiles never eats breakfast, but seeing that beauty makes his stomach rumble. Derek turns and catches Stiles’ eye. “Morning,” Derek says, and then he’s handing Stiles the bagel. “I hope you still like cream cheese.” Derek looks down at his feet, hands in his pockets. “I remember you always had a _thing_ for it.”

“Excuse me, Derek. You sound like you’re saying I liked to use cream cheese as lube.”

Derek’s head shoots up and he looks at Stiles, wide-eyed. “That’s not—oh my—I just meant you really liked—.”

Stiles throws his head back and laughs. When was the last time Stiles _laughed_ before eight in the morning? “I’m just kidding, dude. Thank you. Did you eat anything, though?”

“I had cereal before you came down. I just put the dish in the dishwasher…” Derek looks back to the kitchen. “I hope that’s okay?”

“Perfect.” Stiles takes a bite of the bagel and moans. The cream cheese to bagel ratio is just like he likes it. “Derek, you’ve truly outdone yourself this time.”

Derek says something under his breath. Stiles thinks it’s, _“It’s just a bagel,”_ and it looks like his cheeks are heating up, but he’s not positive, so he says nothing. “Anyway,” Derek starts. “Now that we’re living together are we just going to drive to school together or…”

Stiles thinks about it for a second because he hadn’t really thought about this previously. Stiles should probably spend as little time with Derek outside of home as possible considering he can already feel those familiar intense feelings bubbling up in overdrive. “I have a project with Kira that I have to work on after school, I wouldn’t want to make you wait.”

Derek isn’t deterred. “I have basketball practice after school. I can drive.” Derek walks to the front door, grabbing his backpack and keys as he goes. Stiles runs after him, no choice but to follow.

“Dude! How was your first night as Derek Hale’s roommate?”

Scott doesn’t even have the patience to wait for Stiles’ ass to hit his chair. “Can I enjoy some amazing—” Stiles examines his food for a second. “Applesauce? Maybe? Before I get bombarded with your questions?”

Scott huffs. He waits for Stiles to take one bite (slurp?) and then Scott’s leaning forward, eyebrows waggling. “How’d it go?

Stiles rolls his eyes and steals half of Scott’s sandwich. Scott lets him. “It went fine. He seems a little sad. He made me a bagel for breakfast this morning.”

“That’s awesome!” Scott’s eyes are shining bright and his face is that of Stiles whenever a new Batman movie comes out.

“I just said probably the most uninteresting thing ever and you think that’s awesome? Am I missing something?”

Scott shakes his head back and forth repeatedly. “He made you a bagel! Maybe that means he likes you, too.”

“No.” Stiles steels himself. “Don’t start with that, Scotty. Derek’s straight, _so straight_. As straight as Lydia’s A’s on her report card. Plus, I’m trying to _not_ make him uncomfortable and getting all googly-eyed around him is not going to help that situation, at all.”

Scott shrugs. “I’m just saying.”

Stiles knows that Scott means well, but there’s a reason that Stiles has kept his feelings for Derek a secret. He doesn’t need someone else giving him hope because Stiles knows the truth. He knows the cold, hard, facts. And that is that no matter how much Stiles wants it to happen—wants Stiles and Derek to become _StilesandDerek—_ it’s out of the realm of possibility.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is becoming much bigger than I originally anticipated. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just unexpected and I’m realizing I don’t want to rush things that are important because I don’t want anything to seem out of place or forced, which is making me think maybe I’m making the build up too slow, but at the same time I’m like, “They haven’t been friends in three years, it makes sense for them to not jump right back into things” but then I’m like, “BUT, I WANT ACTION.”
> 
> So, you can see my problems, I’m sure. I’m going to try and set a steady pace, but meanwhile let me know in the comments if there’s anything in particular that you’re interested in seeing!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rating has changed to Mature, but nothing too wild goes on. I just wanted to be safe, just in case!

  **Derek**  

For the past two weeks, Derek has been able to swindle Stiles into driving to school with him every day except for today.

Derek hands Stiles the bagel as soon as Stiles enters the kitchen. Stiles gives him that same soft smile that he does every morning, the one that ensures Derek will make sure there is always bagels and cream cheese in the house for as long as he’s living here if it means Stiles smiling at him like that. “Thanks, man. You know you don’t have to do this every morning.”

Derek shifts from one foot to the other. “I want to.”

“Well, I appreciate it. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, _apparently._ And honestly, before you started living here, I never ate breakfast. That’s probably why I’m all—.” Stiles gestures to himself, swinging the bagel around in the air as he uses his hands to outline his body.

Derek follows Stiles’ hands, eager to be allowed to let his eyes travel Stiles’ body. He tilts his head to the side and asks, “What do you mean?”

Stiles' cheeks get a little pink. “Well, you know. I’m not exactly…” He gestures to Derek and Derek can feel that tell tale heat in his cheeks, looks and sees the goosebumps prickling on his arms whenever he gets nervous or embarrassed.

“You’re in good shape, Stiles.” Derek doesn’t know what else to say. He’s coping with the fact that Stiles may have noticed Derek in his window working out, after all.

Stiles laughs, quick and loud. “You don’t have to try and make me feel better. I know the truth.”

“I’m not saying it to make you feel better. Your body is fine—great, even.” Derek needs this conversation to end. Stiles’ eyes bulge and Derek knows he’s gone too far. He’s been doing so well at building a friendship back up with Stiles. Last night, when Derek, Stiles, and Mr. Stilinski were watching TV, Derek made Stiles _laugh_. Really laugh. The kind of laugh where Stiles was wiping tears from his eyes and clutching his stomach.

“I’m gonna—I’ll see you at school.” And then Stiles was bolting to the front door.

“You don’t wanna drive together?” Derek shouts out after Stiles.

“No, thanks! I don’t need to stay after today!” The front door shuts and Derek’s left to wallow in his disappointment. That conversation went from hopeful to disastrous a little too quick for Derek to handle. He grabs the loaf of bread from the top of the refrigerator and takes out four slices instead of the usual two; he’s got an idea. A _friendly_ idea. An idea that will remind Stiles that’s what Derek’s after—friendship and _nothing else_ (at least that’s what Derek’s trying to convince himself of).

Derek walks over to Stiles’ table at lunch, where Stiles is poking at the tray of food in front of him with a little frown on his face as Scott talks animatedly. When he gets to the end of the table, he drops a sandwich and bag of chips in front of Stiles and Stiles looks up, neck probably cracking with the speed of it.

“Uh, what’s this?”

“I know you hate the cafeteria food, so I made you a sandwich when I made myself one.” _This is a thing friends do,_ Derek thinks to himself. _Friends pay attention to their friends and notice when they don’t like cafeteria food. Friends do something to help friends when they don’t like cafeteria food._   _I made Stiles lunch to show that I pay attention, in a_ friendly _way._

“Uh, yeah—thanks, I—you didn’t have to do that.”

“It was the least I could do.” Derek quirks up his mouth a little, smiling down at Stiles. “Anyway, I should—.” Derek points with his thumb over his shoulder, in the general direction of his usual lunch table. Stiles just nods his head and Derek walks to his table.

“What was that all about?” Erica asks Derek as soon as he sits down.

“Stiles forgot his lunch at home.” Derek felt weird admitting that he made Stiles’ lunch. To Stiles, it would just seem like a nice thing to do, but Derek knows Erica would make a big deal out of it.

Erica eyes him skeptically, but Derek ignores her, taking a bite of his lunch. He really does make a pretty killer sandwich. Killer enough to make Stiles forget how much Derek notices Stiles’ body.

  **Stiles**  

Stiles knew he was over-thinking his and Derek’s conversation this morning. He knew Derek hadn’t meant anything by saying Stiles had a great body or _whatever._ But, Stiles is lost in the memory of Derek’s eyes travelling down his chest and torso and legs and then back up again. It was all too much at the time, bright and early while Stiles was eating the bagel Derek made for him. Stiles has been doing _so well_ not being weird around Derek. He’s kept the jokes light, never getting too personal, even when they were both in bed at the end of the night with the lights off and the only sound was their breathing.

But, then Derek made him _lunch._ Like, what is Stiles supposed to do with that? How did Derek even know that Stiles hated the cafeteria food? It’s not like they sat at the same table and Stiles doesn’t even complain about it anymore, used to the food that’s supposed to be mushy being hard and the food that’s supposed to be hard being mushy. Derek bringing him that _phenomenal_ sandwich was just so fucking _nice._ That’s another thing that Stiles has been overwhelmed with the past two weeks. Derek’s stupidly kind personality. Yeah, he’s sarcastic, but Derek goes out of his way to help out and do nice things. Making Stiles lunch probably came so natural to Derek; he probably didn’t even think twice about it. But, it made Stiles' heart thump too fast in his chest and it made Scott _look_ at Stiles— _look_ not “look”—because Stiles just stared at the sandwich for longer than necessary after Derek walked away, wondering how he’s going to last three years without completely giving up all pretenses of his feelings for Derek.

Even so, here Stiles stands, in the kitchen preparing lasagna. Derek’s favorite meal from when they were kids. It’s honestly just the nice thing to do and Stiles isn’t nice enough. Maybe hanging out with Derek again is turning him into a better person. Stiles shudders. That thought bothers him. The least he can do is be nice to Derek, though, who is always nice to Stiles. And everyone else.

Just as he puts the lasagna in the oven, Derek walks through the front door and Stiles hears him getting settled, probably taking off his shoes next to the door. Derek calls, “I’m home!”

Stiles’ entire body stills, hand frozen around the bottle of soda he was about to pull from the fridge. He hasn’t heard Derek call this house “home” before. Derek probably means nothing by it, it’s where he’s currently living, after all. But, that word— _home—_ suggests comfort and familiarity. Even if Derek isn’t consciously thinking of it like that, Stiles can’t help but feel a warmth building in his chest.

Derek walks into the kitchen and Stiles starts moving again, closing the fridge after he takes the bottle out. He opens a cabinet and looks over to Derek, “Want a cup?”

Derek nods and smiles before his eyes look over to the oven. “What is in there? It smells delicious.”

Stiles’ stomach twists pleasantly, but he feels a bit embarrassed. “Lasagna.” He doesn’t look over to Derek, focuses instead on the two cups of soda he’s pouring.

“That’s my favorite.”

“I know.” Stiles chuckles despite himself as he puts the soda back into the fridge. “I figured since you’re making me bagels and sandwiches, it’s the least I can do.” He hands Derek the cup of soda and Derek takes a sip.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Derek says seriously, not breaking eye contact with Stiles. He’s so intense almost all of the time and Stiles is in that weird stage of loving it and hating it simultaneously.

“I wanted to,” Stiles mutters, a reverse of their conversation from this morning.

They stand there a moment, sipping their soda and looking at each other. Derek breaks the silence. “I’m gonna go take a shower. I didn’t take one in the locker room after practice.”

“Okay. Dad should be home in like an hour and then we can have dinner.”

Stiles watches Derek walk up the stairs and hates the little part of himself that hopes Derek didn’t shower after practice because he wanted to get _home_ to see Stiles.

He needs to get his mind off of his stupid feelings and what better way than to get down and dirty with himself? Stiles tries not to think about how sad that sounds. He’s 90% sure that Derek’s asleep. It’s not 100%, he knows. So, why is he even risking this? It’s just...he hasn’t jerked off in his bed in _so long._ Derek has been living with him for two weeks now and Stiles has been resigned to quick shower jerk off sessions. What is he? An eighth grader? He’s come accustomed to a certain lifestyle and that lifestyle entails jerking off in his bed, like a real man.

Derek has been knocked out for at least an hour, going to bed when Stiles was still on his laptop researching something for class. Usually it doesn’t take Derek an hour to fall asleep, if the last two weeks are anything to go by. Stiles is able to hear the even breathing coming in and out of Derek’s nose twenty minutes after Derek’s head hits the pillow at _most._

There hasn’t been any movement or anything above him for _at least_ the past fifteen minutes. Stiles is doing this. He’s jerking off in his bed with Derek sleeping soundly above him. He starts to strategize the best way to go about this. He’s not going to open his laptop, the light being so bright could wake up Derek. His phone, maybe? That would be fine, but the sound would wake up Derek. Stiles could use his headphones, but then he wouldn’t be able to hear any movement from above him, warning him that Derek’s awake. Stiles is going the old fashioned route. Yeah, that’s right. He’s going to jerk off to his _thoughts._

Stiles reaches under his bed and grabs the lotion he keeps there. He squirts some onto his hand, the bottle making an ominous _fzzz_ sound. Stiles stills, but there’s no movement above him. He’s half hard already because honestly just the thought of jerking off is getting him hot and bothered. He unbuttons his boxers and pulls his dick out. He lets his thoughts wander as he grasps his shaft, giving it a few tugs.

Stiles has kind of resigned himself to Derek being in his Personal Stiles Time thoughts because, well, he’s spent the last two weeks with Derek in his space and it’s not fair to his thoughts to try and force Derek out of them. He’s drowning in Derek right now and his thoughts realize this and are using this against him. Whatever, it’s not like Stiles was very good at keeping Derek out of his thoughts _before_ Derek moved in here. When he wasn’t watching porn, he would dream up a person that vaguely looked like Derek, but made sure there was at least one quality that was distinctly _not_ Derek. Like, the person would have Derek’s body and teeth and ears and nose and eyebrows, _but_ dark brown eyes. He convinced himself that was okay.

But, now, he thinks of Derek unashamedly (okay, maybe a little ashamedly). He thinks of the feel of Derek’s tongue flat on his nipple. Stiles slides his hand under his shirt, up his torso, to flick at his nipple. He thinks of Derek’s hand on his cock, twisting and spreading precome up and down as he brings Stiles to release. Stiles’ hand moves faster. He thinks of Derek’s teeth biting his bottom lip and dragging it as he leans back to move to Stiles’ neck. Stiles’ teeth sink into his own bottom lip.

He’s not trying to make this last. Derek’s asleep above him, for God’s sake. So, he starts pumping at his dick without abandon, flicking both his nipples and scratching across his torso. Then, he brings his hand down from his torso to play with his balls a little—nothing too crazy. His thumb slides across the tip and down the shaft, up, down, up, down, _ahhh._

Feet land with a loud thump, right next to his bed.


	7. Chapter 7

  **Derek**

When Derek’s feet hit the ground, wood creaking a little with his weight, he hears a sharp intake of breath. Derek turns around and sees Stiles flailing, throwing his blankets and pillows everywhere and just generally being spastic. Derek laughs a little.

“Did I scare you?”

“Ha…yeah. Yeah, didn’t expect you to jump out of your bed like a crazy person. It woke me up.”

Derek twists his mouth into a frown. “I’m sorry; I’ll make sure I use the ladder at night, so I don’t wake you up.”

“It’s cool, dude. Really.” But, Stiles is still kind of flailing around, patting his blankets and darting his eyes down his bed and back to Derek. Derek steps back and takes in the slight flush lining Stiles’ cheekbones, barely visible if not for the street light shining dimly through the window. Then, his eyes zero in on the lotion next to Stiles’ bed. It stands out because Stiles’ room is actually not too messy. With Derek moving in, they’re kind of forced to keep things clean otherwise it would just get too hectic in there. He looks back up to Stiles, Stiles’ teeth digging into his bottom lip and Derek puts the clues together. The lotion, the flush, the flailing.

He can’t help it when he lets out a soft, “ _Oh._ ”

Stiles squeaks a little in response, it’s such a weird noise that Derek is more focused on that than the fact that he unintentionally caught Stiles _masturbating._

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” Derek tries really, really hard not to run out of the bedroom. He isn’t sure if he succeeds. His mind is racing as he washes his hands. Stiles has to be embarrassed. No one wants to get caught jerking off, but it seems like Stiles may have already finished by the time that Derek woke up. Derek thinks about that for a second. Stiles jerking off while Derek sleeps in the bunk above him. His entire body shudders at the image, but he tries to collect himself quick. He doesn’t want to be gone too long and let Stiles wallow in misery. He throws some water on his face, dries it off, and heads back to the bedroom.

His eyes are no longer adjusted to the dark, so he can’t tell if Stiles is still awake. He just climbs up the ladder and gets comfortable again. He’s trying to think of something he could reveal to Stiles that would make them “even,” in a sense. Stiles has to feel vulnerable right now and Derek hates that thought.

He says, “You awake?” at the same time Stiles says, “Listen—.”

They both snicker a little and after a moment Derek starts talking. The darkness and the late hour making him feel more at ease with what he’s about to say. “I wanted to talk to you about something. I—well, I haven’t told anyone else and I don’t really know how to, but I need to tell someone. To make it real.”

There’s a pause and Stiles says, “Okay?” He sounds confused, probably wondering why Derek isn’t mentioning the whole Derek Caught Stiles Masturbating Crisis, but Derek isn’t an asshole, so he’s just going to pretend it didn’t happen.

“I realized that I…” Derek trails off and the room is completely silent, he can’t even tell if Stiles is breathing. “How did you come out to your dad?” It’s not what Derek planned on starting off with, but he’s a bit overwhelmed with the whole situation.

Stiles responds easily enough. “Honestly? I just told him. He had been talking about a case—some homophobe beating up a guy because he saw the guy kissing another dude. And my dad was just so pissed.” There’s a pause and Derek thinks he hears Stiles’ throat click as he swallows. “I had known already that I was gay—for a while at that point. But, seeing my dad just lose it over how he doesn’t understand people that hate people for who they love and—” Stiles starts an impression of his dad. “ _Isn’t there enough shit in this world, Stiles? What is the_ point _of hating someone for something they can’t control?”_ The impression ends and Stiles lets out a soft laugh. “That’s when I knew I was stupid to be scared to tell him. Nothing ever pointed to him _not_ being okay with it, but it wasn’t something that we ever talked about. It just never came up, so I never knew _for sure_ that he wouldn’t, I don’t know, hate me for being gay. But, after that rant, I just told him and it distracted him for a second, from the anger that he felt toward the case. He hugged me and—” Stiles clears his throat. “Anyway, he ended up giving me an incredibly long and detailed sex talk, so I pretty much regretted coming out to him immediately.”

Derek smiles, a small laugh escaping him. “That’s awesome.”

“Yeah…I’m lucky. It’s not always like that.”

Derek nods even though Stiles can’t see him. “When did you know?”

“That I was gay?” Stiles asks, but then continues on. “Oh, that’s a hard question. I…think maybe I always knew? Seventh grade is when I fully realized, though. I had a Big Gay Freakout and everything. Sometimes I wonder if I made some wrong decisions during that Freakout.” Stiles mumbles the last part and Derek wants to push it, wants to ask Stiles what he means because seventh grade is when everything went to shit and Stiles stopped hanging out with him. He resists because the whole point of this conversation was supposed to make Stiles feel less vulnerable about the Crisis.

“I’m bisexual,” Derek blurts.

The confession hangs heavy in the air and Derek realizes it’s the first time he’s said it out loud. His heart is pumping in his chest and he places his hand over it, shocked at the speed. It feels like forever before Stiles responds. “When did you…” Derek hears Stiles hesitate.

“It’s still pretty new. I, uh—well, it was when I heard you tell Laura about you. I started thinking about it and I realized that, well—yeah. I like guys, too.” Derek doesn’t get into detail about just how much Stiles was involved in Derek coming to his realization.

“You said you haven’t told anyone? Not even Erica or maybe Laura?”

“No…you’re the first person I told.” Derek thinks maybe his plan to distract Stiles from _Stiles’_ vulnerability is working because _Derek_ has never felt more vulnerable in his life.

“Wow, thank you, dude. You sharing that with me it’s—that’s a huge deal.” Derek, for the first time in this conversation, wishes he could see Stiles’ face. Derek needs to know what Stiles is thinking and words are important, but body language is always how people really speak. “Are you handling it okay?”

“I guess? I mean, I’m okay with the fact that I’m bi. I never had any issues with that. It’s just weird, in a way. I want my friends to know and I want my family to know, but the whole coming out thing?” Derek sighs and feels that familiar frustration bubbling up in him.

“I get it. It’d be awesome if there was some type of invention where anytime that you wanted someone to know, you could just like, click a button or something and then _bam!_ the information entered the person’s brain and you didn’t have to have the awkward conversation and feel the stress of it and everything, but I’m rambling now.” Derek laughs a little before Stiles starts talking again. “Sometimes I think it’s easier in high school, though. Once you start telling people, word kind of just travels. Before you know it, everyone knows, and it’s not that big of a deal anymore.”

“That’s actually something I was hoping you could help me with. I didn’t want to make you feel obligated or anything, especially since, you know, we’re not really fr—we’re not really as close as we used to be. But, these past couple weeks got me thinking that maybe you wouldn’t mind? Helping me?”

It’s quiet for a moment and Derek worries that Stiles drifted to sleep. “What exactly do you mean?”

“I just always thought it would be easier to come out if I had someone to come out _with_ , but I can’t really come out with someone if I don’t come out because then no one would know that I even have anything to come out _about._ ” Derek has no idea what the hell he’s even saying anymore. What he _meant_ to say is since he can’t get a boyfriend without coming out, he wants Stiles to help him come out.

“You mean like…you want a boyfriend, so you could just kill two birds with one stone? Just tell your family or whatever that you’re in a relationship and when they ask with who, you can just say a guy’s name and then you’re coming out, but really you’re just telling your family you’re in a relationship?”

Derek’s jaw drops a little, shocked that Stiles actually got what he was trying to say. His heart clenches as he thinks about how Stiles and him always kind of had their own language. “Exactly, but that obviously—”

“I’ll do it.” Stiles says, voice sounding determined.

“You will?”

“Yep.” Stiles pauses. “I’ll be your fake boyfriend, so you can come out the way that you want to.”

What.

  **Stiles**  

Stiles has more or less accepted the fact that he just won’t be sleeping tonight. Too many things just happened at once. First, he gets caught _jerking off._ That should’ve been the end of it. That should’ve been—Derek should’ve—that should’ve made everything so awkward that they couldn’t look into each other’s eyes for at least three days— _at least._ Then Derek comes back from the bathroom all eerily quiet, feet hardly making a sound on the creaky floor, like Stiles would crumble if Derek even acknowledged what just happened.

Stiles couldn’t take it; he knew he had to talk about the elephant in the room before it both ate them alive. Then again, maybe Derek really didn’t give a shit. Maybe it affected him so little that he didn’t deem it worthy of a conversation. But, it doesn’t matter now, does it? Because Derek, of course, surprises Stiles. Because he’s Derek and Stiles should know by now that Derek wouldn’t want Stiles— _anyone,_ Stiles corrects himself, _I’m not special,_ he thinks—to be wallowing in self misery.

Stiles didn’t know where the line of questioning was going to lead, but he was happy to talk to Derek. He had to leave out some parts of the story (Derek being a huge factor in Stiles realizing he’s gay, Derek being the name Stiles used to come out to his mom— _stop thinking about that,_ Stiles presses to himself). He didn’t, not in a zillion years— _yeah, that’s right, a_ zillion—think that Derek fucking Hale was going to blurt that he was fucking bisexual. _What the fuck?_

Stiles’ first instinct was to blurt, too. To blurt, _“Are you kidding me?”_ and thankfully—Stiles really thanks God for this one—he actually _thought_ before he spoke. Because that response is not the best one to hear after coming out to someone. Stiles forced himself to detach from the situation, slightly. He wasn’t going to start thinking about how his chances with Derek just quadrupled and he wasn’t going to think about how apparently Stiles was the reason Derek started thinking about sexuality.

Stiles remembers that day. He looked over to Derek after he came out to Laura and Derek was slack jawed, staring without a care at Stiles and Laura. Stiles was so embarrassed and left the situation immediately. He had thought—he’s so _stupid,_ but…he had thought Derek was homophobic, for a second there. The way he was looking at Stiles like he was so confused and hurt…Stiles immediately jumped to that conclusion. But, this is Derek and Stiles should’ve known that Derek isn’t an asshole, even then, when they were at their prime of not really speaking to each other.

But, that brings Stiles to the next thing that happened. Somehow, someway, Stiles agreed to be Derek’s fake boyfriend. _What._

It’s just that, Derek was rambling and so nervous and Derek doesn’t ramble, not really. Stiles would’ve done anything in that moment to calm Derek down. Especially since the entire conversation had distracted Stiles from the fact that Derek _caught Stiles jerking off_. It hurt, a little, that Derek kind of admitted he was only being super friendly in order to get Stiles to help him. _That’s not what he said,_ Optimistic Stiles tells himself. Derek probably would’ve been nice to Stiles anyway, but they were being more than just chivalrous with each other. Derek was making him bagels and sandwiches and driving him to school and letting Stiles pick the music and Stiles hates to think that all of that was a bribe that Stiles didn’t realize he was a part of.

It’s sad, in a way, that even if it was—even if Derek didn’t really _care_ about getting closer to Stiles—all about getting Stiles’ help, Stiles finds he doesn’t really care. Stiles likes spending time with Derek and he misses it and honestly Stiles owes Derek. He just dropped him in seventh grade and although Stiles is pretty sure Derek doesn’t care anymore—pretty sure Derek kind of got over it a few months after it happened—Stiles still gets that hollowness in his chest whenever he thinks about that look Derek gave him, like he was just trying to figure out what he did wrong. Stiles will prove to Derek that Derek didn’t do anything wrong because hey, Stiles wouldn’t be just _anyone’s_ fake boyfriend—surely, that has to mean something to Derek.

“Alright, so, we need a game plan. How far are we going with this? How believable are we trying to make this? Who can know the truth? Personally, I think no one should know—trust _no one, Derek._ No. One. Except me. You can trust me.” Stiles winces. “Anyway, brainstorm here. What’re you thinking?” It’s the next morning and Stiles is trying to get down the basics of The Plan. Derek kind of just looks at Stiles, though.

“I don’t know?”

Stiles flails, arms shooting above his head then to the side. His left hand scrapes against his _stupid bumpy walls_ and he squawks in pain. It’s not embarrassing. At all. “Ignoring that and back to the problem at hand. How have you not thought about this more? This is _your plan,_ dude.”

“Right. I—uh.” Derek lifts up his left shoulder and makes that face where one cheek lifts up to scrunch his eye and his mouth is slightly open, but turned down. Apologetic. _There is no time for apologies!_

“Fine! Fine, Derek! You just sit there and look pretty and I’ll get down the basics.” Stiles writes, _How to Convince All of Humanity That You’re in a Relationship, So It’s Easier to Come Out_ at the top of the notebook page.

“Isn’t that title a bit of a mouthful?” Derek asks. _How dare he?_

Stiles shoots him a look, indignant. “I’ll give _you_ a mouthful!” It’s a stupid, stupid third grade comeback, but then Derek looks away from Stiles and there’s a starting of a blush on his cheekbone and Stiles squawks, again. “That’s not what I meant! I didn’t mean that!”

Derek’s mouth turned into an amused grin at Stiles’ squawking and he looked back to Stiles. “Are you sure?” And then the asshole smirks, raises an eyebrow. “Because, technically, we _are_ boyfriends now.” Derek’s joking. Stiles _knows_ Derek’s joking because Derek laughs lightly after he says it, but Stiles’ chest gets that familiar warmth from when Derek said, _“I’m home!”_ except that this time it’s a reaction to the word “boyfriend” and it’s not so much a warmth as it is a burning fire. Stiles is in way over his head.

“Back to business!” Stiles distracts. He puts a bullet point on the notebook page. “Okay, so who do you want to know first? Your family or friends?”

Derek twiddles his thumbs and the muscles in his arms flex a bit. “I think maybe my friends. I think that would be easier.”

“Alright, perfect.” Stiles writes “friends” next to the bullet and then goes to the next line and makes a dash. “Now, for possible ways it can happen.” Stiles writes, “change relationship status on Facebook” then, underneath next to another dash, “post selfie on Instagram” then “add date and heart in Twitter bio” and then he pauses, looking up to Derek.

“I don’t think it should be through social media. I think…” Stiles doesn’t say anything, just has his pen leaning on the notebook paper next to the dash. It’s easier for Stiles to think of this as an assignment than to think of it as him and Derek _acting like boyfriends._ That way leads madness. “Maybe, you can sit with me at lunch.” Stiles writes it down. “That way, I could tell Erica, Boyd, and Isaac first. They deserve to know before other people.”

“Of course, so then is that all? Do you think telling them would be enough for it to spread around school and make you feel like you’re not keeping a secret anymore?”

Derek shakes his head, but still says, “No. Maybe if we—” the pink on Derek’s cheekbones is back and Stiles is on the edge of his seat, wondering what Derek’s thinking that could cause that. “We could, you know, walk down the hall together…” Derek trails off.

Stiles doesn’t write that down. “Derek, that doesn’t really scream _in a relationship_ ; we’d just be two dudes walking together.”

“Holding hands.” Is all Derek says. Finishing his sentence a little late.

Stiles can feel the prickles of the heat pushing at his skin, knowing a blush is going to come. Holding hands is the most innocent thing in the world. Stiles has had freaking dicks in his mouth and he’s blushing over _holding hands_ with someone. _Not just someone,_ he thinks, _Derek._ “Okay, okay,” Stiles says, writing it down. “Now, I’m assuming you want this to be believable, so how about we start this on Monday and—.”

“ _Monday?_ Don’t you think it would be a little weird if we went from barely speaking to each other to walking around holding hands?”

Stiles let’s himself consider what Derek’s saying, but still shakes his head. “Honestly, no. We’re in high school. Lucas, the Junior that just transferred here? He was dating Katy within a week of him moving here. At least you and me have known each other our whole lives, even if we haven’t, you know…” Stiles doesn’t want to say it out loud. Doesn’t want to say, _“even if we haven’t been friends”_ because they were best friends for too long, much longer than they haven’t been friends. It doesn’t feel right, admitting out loud that they—Stiles—broke the pact they made to each other in the third grade to never leave each other’s side.

“Okay.” But Derek’s voice cracks a little, like he’s nervous.

Stiles puts down the notebook and grabs Derek’s hand. It’s heavy and warm in Stiles’ palm. “It’s gonna be okay, dude. The people of Beacon Hills are not as big of assholes as you’d think.” Stiles gives Derek a half-smile. “If you’re not ready for this, that’s fine. You can take your time. But, if you are and you’re still nervous, I’ll be there every step of the way.”

Derek squeezes Stiles’ hand and Stiles gives a squeeze in return. “Thank you,” Derek whispers. “You don’t have to do this.” He says, louder. Stiles slowly brings his hand back into his lap.

“I know,” Stiles says, looking into Derek’s eyes for the fastest moment before darting them back to the hand in his lap, unable to handle the emotion he finds in the softness of Derek’s eyes. He picks the notebook back up. “Alright, what else?” Stiles says cheerfully, breaking the moment. “Is this just gonna be a relationship that crashes and burns? Break up within a week?” Stiles silently hopes it’s not, but knows it’s not his decision to make.

Derek kind of draws in on himself, looking uncomfortable. “I don’t really like the idea of that. I’d like it to be at least a month long? Although, I know that’s a lot to ask of you.”

Stiles waves Derek off, making a gesture with his hand that hints on it being no big deal. “That’s perfect. I could keep it in my pants for a month.”

Derek tilts his head and pushes his eyebrows together.

“Well, I’m obviously not gonna go and hookup with anyone while we’re fake boyfriends, dude. I don’t want people thinking I’m a cheater.”

“Oh, yeah.” Derek’s shoulders hunch over somewhat. “I appreciate that.” Derek moves to get up and walk toward the door. “Want anything from the kitchen?”

“Yes! Bring up the cheeseballs I hide in the cabinet with all of the cleaning supplies—it’s under the sink. We can play some Xbox when you get back up.”

Derek shakes his head, a small smile on his face as he walks out of the room. Stiles can’t get the hunched shoulder look out of his mind, though. Why did Derek react to Stiles _not_ “cheating” on him like he actually _did_ cheat on him? Pessimistic Stiles thinks, _maybe he just can’t handle the idea of me being sexually involved with anyone because he thinks I’m so unattractive,_ while Optimistic Stiles thinks, _maybe he just can’t handle the idea of me being sexually involved with anyone because he wants to be sexually involved with me._

Oh, how Stiles wishes that could be true. Too bad he’s a realist, anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I warned you all that I might only be able to post a chapter every Friday, but I still feel bad that I didn’t post more this week. I want to apologize to you, my peers, but I did make sure that this chapter was at least a wee bit longer than usual. I hope you like it!

****** Derek  ******

It’s Monday. Derek sucks in all the air he can through his nose, holds it, and then lets it all out in a sigh. Today, Derek tells his friends that he’s got a boyfriend. He feels the corners of his mouth turn up out of his own volition at the word “boyfriend.” Derek’s treading in risky territory right now and he knows that, but he can’t help but revel in the swelling of his heart whenever he thinks about doing boyfriend-y things with Stiles. Now that they’re doing this, Stiles _has_ to hang out with Derek—Derek doesn’t think about how sad that sounds, like he’s trying to trap Stiles into spending time with him.

This wasn’t even Derek’s idea. He would never even think about suggesting it, especially to Stiles. It makes sense that Stiles jumped to that conclusion because Derek was so unclear when trying to explain what kind of help he wanted from Stiles, but still: if Stiles ended up hating this plan it’s _not_ Derek’s fault (except that it actually is because Derek could have _easily_ corrected Stiles, but consciously chose not to because the idea was too appealing to him).

Derek finishes spreading the cream cheese on Stiles’ bagel just as Stiles stumbles into the kitchen. He hands it over, their fingers brush, and Stiles says, “Thanks, babe!” Derek is very, very glad that Stiles already took the bagel because if he hadn’t, Derek would have dropped it upon hearing the word “babe” in Stiles’ voice directed at _Derek._ “Derek, stop making that face.”

“What face?” Derek tries to not make a face, but considering he hadn’t realized he was making a face in the first place, it proves to be a difficult task.

“Listen,” Stiles takes a bite of the bagel. “You can’t be shocked when I call you ‘babe,’ dude. Pet names are an essential part to any relationship, in my opinion—at least any relationship that I want to be a part of—and if we want this to be believable, you can’t look like you’re gonna pass out anytime I call you ‘babe.’”

Right. Of course. Makes sense. Derek could do pet names. “Okay…sweetie?”

Stiles nearly chokes on his bagel when a surprised bark of laughter escapes him. “No. No, don’t do that, Derek. ‘Sweetie’ is reserved for middle-aged adults talking to anyone under the age of twenty. Stick to the basics: babe, baby…” Stiles trails off. “Actually, yeah. That’s about it. Anything else would feel too forced.”

Derek nods and turns back to the lunch bags he made. He rips a piece of paper from the pad they have on their fridge and scribbles out a note before throwing it into Stiles’ lunch bag. He turns back around and sees that Stiles has left the kitchen, so he grabs his backpack and heads to the front room, just as Stiles stubs his toe when he’s trying to get his sneakers on. An opportunity has presented itself. He drops to his knees next to the chair Stiles is sitting in—and who stubs their toe while _sitting,_ seriously—and says, “Oh, baby, are you alright?”

Stiles nearly stubs his toe again, but Derek catches his foot before it bangs into the corner of the end-table. “ _Jesus._ ”

“What did I do wrong this time?” Derek thought that the sentence had flowed easily from his lips, unlike the “sweetie” from before.

“Absolutely nothing. I just wasn’t expecting it, is all.” Stiles’ face looks a little red, probably from the pain of stubbing his toe. He stands up, having gotten his shoes on, and reaches down for Derek’s hand to pull him off the ground. When Derek straightens, he’s so close to Stiles that he can feel Stiles’ breath hitting the tip of Derek’s nose.

“Here.” He reaches out and grabs Stiles’ lunch. “I made you lunch.” He lifts the bag between their faces and Stiles takes it, a huge smile stretching across his face. He tilts his head even closer and it’s too quick for Derek to process what he’s doing.

Stiles smacks a kiss on Derek’s cheek and says, “Let’s go! I’m driving” as he heads out of the house.

Derek is frozen where he’s standing from shock. How is he going to last a month like this? He could barely last a morning.

** **

Stiles met Derek at his locker before lunch, just as they discussed when putting together The Plan—Derek refuses to refer to it as “How to Convince All of Humanity That You’re in a Relationship, So It’s Easier to Come Out.” Derek watches as Stiles and Scott exchange looks with each other as soon as they enter the lunchroom, having a silent conversation without Stiles even pausing in his stride next to Derek. It ends with Scott giving Stiles a thumbs up and Stiles shaking his head furiously before looking away. Derek doesn’t ask; he’s got enough on his mind.

Derek and Stiles sit down at Derek’s usual table, having gotten there first. They sit right next to each other and before Derek can open his mouth to say, _“Don’t you think they’ll immediately expect something if we’re sitting right next to each other at an empty table?”_ Erica, Isaac, and Boyd slip into the seats across from them.

Erica keeps side-eyeing Stiles and Derek glares at her. Isaac says, “Nice to have you join us, Stiles.” He’s trying to be nice and it comes off as genuine, but he sounds like a dad talking to his child’s friend.

Stiles just smiles at him, equally as genuine. His leg is shaking under the table and it’s jostling Derek’s chair slightly. Before Derek can think about it, he places his hand on Stiles’ leg and gives it a squeeze. Stiles’ entire body stills and Derek slowly removes his hand, letting it linger a little longer than necessary. Derek connects eyes with Boyd and Boyd raises an eyebrow at him while slowly chewing a chip—he definitely didn’t miss the exchange.

Erica’s voice cuts in, having grown sick of the silence, even though it’s only been about forty seconds. “Not that I don’t enjoy your company, Stiles, but why exactly _are_ you sitting here?”

“ _Erica,_ ” Derek scolds.

Stiles chuckles. “It’s fine. Derek asked me to sit with him today.” He opens the lunch bag and dumps the contents on the table. The note Derek left for him flutters out and Stiles turns to Derek in question before opening it up. His eyes scan across it and Derek smirks when Stiles turns to look at him again, blushing prettily.

“What is going on?” Erica demands.

Derek takes a deep breath and Stiles does the same thing that Derek did for him—he squeezes his thigh. The difference is that Stiles leaves his hand there and Derek feels two things at once: 1) grateful for Stiles’ support and 2) like the skin beneath Stiles’ hand is burning through the fabric of his jeans. “Well, looks like you can stop making fun of me for not being in a relationship.”

“I don’t _make fun of you,_ Derek. I just think it’s ridiculous that you won’t even date and—wait what do you mean?” Erica’s eyes dart between Derek and Stiles and Derek steels himself.

“Stiles is my boyfriend.” His heart leaps up into his throat. He needs to get used to saying Stiles is his boyfriend, even if it _is_ a lie.

Erica’s eyebrows shoot up—higher than when she found out Boyd used to do ballet when he was younger. Isaac smiles softly at Derek and Derek returns it automatically. Boyd’s face remains unchanged, but he reaches forward and squeezes Derek’s shoulder.

“Are you _serious?_ ” Erica isn’t yelling or anything, but she doesn’t exactly sound happy.

Derek watches as Stiles cringes and the smile that Derek still had on from Isaac completely fades. “What’s the problem?”

“What’s the problem? _What’s the problem?_ Derek, you’ve told us how Stiles used to be your best friend and then just _dropped_ you—.”

“Hey, I never said—.”

“Shut up. How is it that you go from not talking to Stiles _at all,_ or actually let me rephrase that. How is it that you go from _Stiles_ not talking to _you_ at all to suddenly being boyfriends?” Derek doesn’t know what to say at first because that was the same concern he had when Stiles suggested they do this today. Her voice goes soft—as soft as Erica’s voice _can_ go. “Derek, it’s been three years since Stiles dropped you and—.”

“Stop saying ‘dropped.’”

Erica just looks at him sadly. Derek realizes that Stiles’ hand is no longer on his thigh. “It’s been three years since Stiles _dropped_ you and as of last week, you still weren’t over it. What’s going on?”

Derek looks over to Stiles, silently pleading for some help and Stiles connects eyes with Derek. After a moment, Stiles nods and turns back to Erica. “Erica, I know this seems sudden, but…” He looks over to Derek and then back to Erica. “Well, I was in a bad place in seventh grade. I don’t know if you know this but I—my mom—she…” Derek reaches over and takes Stiles’ hand in his, intertwining their fingers. It’s something that Derek would’ve done before. Before shit hit the fan and turned Derek’s life around in seventh grade. Erica’s eyes zero in on their hands and half of her mouth settles in a frown. “Right before she died—” Stiles’ voice cracks slightly and Derek runs his thumb over Stiles’ knuckles. “I came out to her.” Derek cannot believe his ears, but he keeps his face blank. “Between realizing I’m gay and then having my mom die, it all became a bit much.”

Erica looks guilty for being the reason that Stiles is talking about this and Derek’s glad. Stiles doesn’t deserve this. “Stiles, you don’t have to—.”

Stiles turns to look at Derek and puts his other hand over their intertwined ones. “Yes, I do. I never apologized to you and you deserve an apology. Maybe one day I’ll be able to explain to you why I did what I did, but that doesn’t matter now. I hurt you and I’m so sorry, Derek. I’m so fucking sorry.”

“Stiles, it’s okay.”

But, Stiles is already shaking his head. “It’s not. And I’m going to make it up to you.” Then he leans forward and it’s different from this morning because it feels like it’s in slow motion. Derek catalogues the shine in Stiles’ eyes,—hating to think that the shine is a result of unshed tears—he catalogues the curve of Stiles’ eyelashes, almost as though he’s put on mascara even though Derek knows that he hasn’t. He feels the brush of Stiles’ soft lips against Derek’s cheek and Derek desperately tries to find something to compare it to. He settles on the feel of the flower petals in his dad’s garden against his fingertips. Stiles backs away and just stares at Derek. His eyes are the color of a brand new penny, but the emotion behind them makes Derek think of an old penny found on the ground, guaranteeing good luck.

“Okay,” Derek breathes out.

The bell rings and Derek looks down at his lunch bag, unopened and then at Stiles’ sandwich, one bite taken from it. Stiles starts shoving the whole sandwich in his mouth and the mood abruptly changes. Derek tries not to get whiplash from the sound of Isaac’s giggling—yes, _giggling_. Stiles turns to look at Isaac, mouth full. “Wha’so funny?”

Erica even laughs a little at that and she says, “Alright, whatever. It’s clear that you guys are all gooey-eyed for each other, so I guess I’m okay with it.” She picks up the note from in front of Stiles and reads it, before putting her finger in her mouth and pretending to gag. “Derek, I didn’t expect this from you. I’m so disappointed.”

Shockingly, Boyd, who is the least nosy person Derek knows, speaks up. “What’s it say?” At least he still _looks_ bored.

Erica throws the back of her hand to her forehead and sighs in a completely exaggerated manner. “ _Stiles,_ ” she sighs again through the name. “I put extra bologna on yours because I know how much you like peeling off the sides and shoving them in your mouth before eating the actual sandwich part. I hope you enjoy it, _baby._ ” The whole thing is read in the voice of someone that might play Juliet in a mediocre version of Romeo and Juliet and the “baby” is dragged out way longer than necessary.

Derek’s cheeks flame, but Stiles simply sputters. “I forgot to do the bologna thing in my haste to eat the sandwich!” He throws his fist into the air and shouts, “ _No!_ ” Like “baby,” this word is dragged out entirely too long.

The warning bell rings and they all hop out of their chairs muttering expletives as they dash in the direction of their next classes.

Stiles calls out to him, “Meet me at the Jeep after school!”

Derek shouts back an affirmative and continues off to class, thinking about how while that didn’t go perfectly, it had _nothing_ to do with the fact that he’s bi. His friends just seemed to accept the fact that he’s dating a dude, Erica was just concerned about _what_ dude. Looks like this fake-boyfriend plan is going to be a success.

****** Stiles  ******

Stiles is leaning against his Jeep, waiting for Derek and he finally let’s his mind wander back to what happened at lunch. He’s a little surprised at himself for being so open with Derek—no, that’s wrong. He’s surprised at himself for being so open with Derek _in_ _front of Derek’s friends._ But, Derek deserves honesty and he deserved an apology and God, if what Erica said was true? That Derek still hadn’t gotten over the loss of their friendship? Stiles can’t let himself think about that. Not now and probably not ever.

He sees Derek walking toward him and he can’t help his body’s immediate response: pure joy. He stands up straighter and his cheeks pull up his mouth into a wide smile. Derek’s answering smile is breathtaking, as ridiculous as that sounds. Seeing that smile, Stiles knows that he was crazy to think that Derek was only using him to help Derek come out. Derek enjoys Stiles’ company, Stiles realizes, and it shouldn’t feel like as much of a shock as it does. They were best friends for twelve years - of course Derek liked Stiles. Although, Stiles doesn’t necessarily think that he deserves it after what he did to Derek.

Derek comes to a stop in front of Stiles and leans forward, planting a kiss on Stiles’ cheek. Stiles can feel the heat prickling his skin already and then Derek says, “I missed you after lunch, _baby._ ” And the thing is that Stiles knows that Derek is purposely laying it on thick, letting the word “baby” sound like an official title. He knows this and yet still his heart starts bouncing around in his chest. Maybe Derek can use it as a basketball for when he’s practicing dribbling or whatever it is he does.

The worst part is that Stiles is the one that started the pet names and the kissing on cheeks, just trying to think of subtle ways to show that they’re boyfriends. Stiles is just thinking about “How to Convince All of Humanity That You’re in a Relationship, So It’s Easier to Come Out.” He wants to make sure that this plan works for Derek (okay and maybe he likes being able to refer to Derek as “babe”).

Stiles rolls his eyes a little late and responds, “Yeah, yeah, missed you too.” He opens the passenger door for Derek and then walks around to the driver’s side. Once they’re both seated and the Jeep has started, he looks over to Derek. “So?”

Derek furrows his eyebrows, as per usual. “So what?”

“How’d it go? How’d I do? Are you convinced that this plan is going to be a success?”

Derek slumps a bit in his chair. “Right, yeah, the plan.” He straightens and pushes a tight smile onto his face. Stiles hates it – something he never thought he’d say about one of Derek’s smiles. “It went really, really well. They didn’t even budge at the fact that you’re a guy.” His smile becomes more genuine now, so Stiles starts driving, not feeling the need to analyze Derek’s every movement.

“That’s awesome, dude.” Stiles hesitates before continuing, wanting to make up for what he did to Derek (even though he does still think that’s what he needed to do at the time—although, even that is diminishing more and more every time that Derek smiles in his direction), but also not wanting to reveal _too much_ of his feelings. He goes with the former. “I just want to make sure you know that everything I said at lunch was true.”

In Stiles’ peripheral vision, he sees Derek shift, angling his body toward Stiles. “I forgive you, really. I promise.”

 _Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh._ “That’s great, but that doesn’t mean that I can forgive myself for hurting you. If I had known you still—if I could handle—I’ll explain one day, okay? I will and I’ll make up for lost time.”

“You already are. The fact that you’re helping me through something so big in my life is not something I’m just gonna ignore.”

“Okay, yeah, good, that’s great.”

** **

“Are you gonna tell Scott the truth?”

It’s the first thing that Derek’s said in fifty-eight minutes. They’re sprawled across the floor doing homework and munching on cheeseballs. “Do you want me to?”

“I’m not gonna force you to lie to your friends. It’s up to you.”

Stiles shoves a few more cheeseballs into his mouth. He kind of wants this to stay between him and Derek. It’ll be weird lying to Scott, but Scott would just disapprove, especially since he knows about Stiles’ crush. “I’m not gonna tell him.”

Stiles glances up and sees Derek’s lips curl into the smallest, cutest, most fantastic little smile. Stiles’ entire body _aches._ This is why he can’t be friends with Derek. This is _exactly_ why. But, he _wants_ to be friends with Derek—well, he wants to be _at least_ friends with Derek—and he’s a teenage boy. So he’s going to do what he wants.

He throws a cheeseball at Derek. He throws three.

** **

Derek drove to school today and they’re purposely arriving a little late. Stiles had originally suggested that their holding hands walk through the halls be during Week 2 of dating, but since yesterday went well with Derek’s friends, he just wanted to keep it moving fast.

They hop out of the car and Derek comes around and takes Stiles’ hand. They’re still in the parking lot, which is mostly void of people, so Stiles thinks that they could’ve waited until actually _entering_ the building before holding hands, but sure isn’t going to complain. Stiles gives him a comforting squeeze and Derek starts walking. When they get through the doors, no one reacts to their held hands. People just scurry through the hallway, running to their lockers or friends.

Derek walks in the direction of Stiles’ locker and Stiles follows right behind him, hand never leaving Derek’s. As they start to walk down the hall, Stiles catches a few looks, a few raised eyebrows, a few whispers to friends, and Stiles doesn’t know how to react. Derek seems so tense beside him, so Stiles runs his thumb across Derek’s knuckles, just like Derek had done for him.

Derek relaxes and stops in front of Stiles’ locker. Stiles has to let go of his hand to open it, so Derek rests his hand on Stiles’ lower back instead. Stiles can’t get over how these soft touches are making him react. He shivers and Derek _has_ to feel it, with his hand still planted on Stiles, there’s no way he could miss it. Derek kisses Stiles’ cheek and says, “ _Thank you._ ”

Stiles doesn’t look at Derek, he just keeps getting his books together. “Shh. Stop being ridiculous.”

A body clashes into the locker on the other side of Stiles and Stiles jumps, Derek’s hand falling from his back. “What’s up, Stiles?” _Eric._

Stiles shrugs in reply, not really wanting to talk to Eric in front of Derek (or at all, actually).

“Well, I was thinking maybe you could stop by my place tonight.” Stiles’ head snaps to look at Eric. Eric waggles his eyebrows. “We could pick up where we left off in the locker room.” He moves forward, getting into Stiles’ space. Stiles is tempted to throw his hands into the air and do the song and dance, _Stop, right there, this is my personal square…_ but, ultimately decides against it.

Mostly because Derek has already come around and put a hand to Eric’s chest, gently pushing him backward. “Looks like you’re gonna have to invite someone else over tonight.”

Eric looks annoyed. “Since when do you make Stiles’ decisions for him?”

“Since he’s my _boyfriend._ ” Eric’s mouth drops open slightly, but he quickly composes himself. “Wait, no—I don’t make Stiles’ decisions for him, I just—.”

Stiles intertwines his fingers with Derek’s again and stops his adorable babbling. “Sorry, Eric. I’m a taken man now.”

“Whatever, dude.” Then Eric walks off.

Stiles turns to Derek, the laughter bubbling in his chest quickly cut off once he sees Derek’s shut down face. “What’s the matter?”

Derek clenches his jaw and does something with his arm that Stiles feels in his hand. “I hope that was okay. I shouldn’t have assumed you wanted to say ‘no’ to him.”

“I already _told_ you that I don’t want people thinking I’m a cheater.” Stiles tries to force a laugh out to lighten the mood a bit—spoiler alert: it doesn’t work. “Plus,” Stiles adds. “I wouldn’t have said ‘yes’ to him even if I didn’t care about people thinking I’m a cheater.”

That seems to lighten the mood because Derek says, “Really?” and there’s a little more lightness in his voice. He’s such a good guy, he probably wouldn’t even care if Stiles _did_ “cheat” on him, as long as it was making Stiles happy.

“Really.” Stiles closes his locker and says, “Now, come on, big guy. Walk me to class.”

So, Derek does.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is inspired by this comment left from [rightmovement](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rightmovement/works):
>
>> I'm just saying, imagine how Derek would react to walking in on Stiles jerking off in the shower. Moaning Derek's name even.

  **Derek**

“So, Scott’s pissed.”

These are the first words that Derek hears on Saturday morning. He grunts in response. He’s nothing if not inquisitive.

“Yup, that’s pretty much how I feel. I wake up to a text from him in all capital letters. He more or less thinks I’m the scum between his toes because I didn’t tell him about me and you before letting the whole school know. Which, in my defense, uh…okay, you’re right. I don’t have any defense. I wasn’t thinking clearly, you know? It’s not like this is real, so I didn’t have the urge to go and dish with my pals about me and my new boyfriend’s meet-cute.”

 _It’s not like this is real._ Derek repeats those words over and over in his head, begging his heart to catch on with what his brain already knows. It’s been almost a week of holding hands and pet names and kisses on cheeks and it feels real. Derek really, really wants it to be real.

“Anyway…” Stiles drags out the word and pauses.

“What?” is all Derek can manage to respond with.

“He’s insisting on a double date with him and Allison. Tonight. And before you decline! I think you should know what you’d be declining! Bowling! And pizza! On me!”

Derek smiles even though Stiles can’t see him. “I wasn’t going to decline.”

“You weren’t?”

“Of course not.” Then Derek thinks he sounds too eager, so he tacks on, “It’ll make us being boyfriends look more real.”

Derek hears Stiles moving around in his bed before Stiles responds. “Right! Of course! Well, we’re going at six, so make sure you leave yourself enough time to look snazzy as hell. I don’t want people thinking I date just _anyone._ ”

Derek tugs a pillow out from underneath his head and leans over the bed to chuck it at Stiles. The sound of Stiles’ laughter is worth Derek’s heart dropping when he almost falls off the top bunk.

Since it’s Saturday and there’s no practice, Derek decides to do a short workout before showering and getting ready to go out. It’s hot, so he takes off his shirt and drops to the ground after stretching. He’s doing pushups, switching from both hands to his right hand to his left and then back to both. There’s sweat dripping down his face and Derek feels it like an itch, so he stops to wipe it off.

When he looks up, he sees Stiles at their bedroom door, a package of Oreos on the ground beside him, and his mouth open a bit wider than usual. Derek’s wrestling with the thoughts of attempting to subtly flex vs. the risk of looking like a total douche by attempting to subtly flex. So, he subtly flexes.

Stiles’ mouth drops open a bit more. Derek’s okay with looking like a douche if it means Stiles looking at _him_ with that face. “What’s up?” Derek goes for nonchalant, like it means nothing to him to have Stiles staring at his body even though Derek’s spent a good amount of time _purposely_ trying to get Stiles to catch him working out.

“Nuh—nothing. Thought you might want to play Xbox and eat Oreos, but clearly you have other plans.”

“Why are the Oreos on the ground?”

“Huh? The Oreos aren’t—” Then he looks to his hands before realizing that they _are_ on the ground. “Oh, I must’ve dropped them.” Stiles’ whole face is _burning_ red and Derek is basking in it. Loving that Stiles is reacting to Derek’s body, even if it doesn’t really mean that Stiles _likes_ Derek.

Derek stands up and walks toward Stiles. He notices Stiles’ breath coming in faster and _holy shit_ Stiles just adjusted his crotch over his jeans. _This is unreal,_ Derek thinks, but he stays with his nonchalant attitude, stopping in front of Stiles and saying, “Maybe after my shower” before slipping through the doorframe, deliberately letting his entire body brush against Stiles.

When Derek gets to the bathroom, he takes off his shorts and boxer briefs before looking into the mirror and noticing he’s a little red, himself. Hopefully Stiles just thinks it’s from the workout and not because Derek can’t even handle Stiles looking at him.

He steps into the shower and looks down at his crotch, not surprised to see that the situation with Stiles has caused him to get half hard. _I mean, Stiles_ adjusted his crotch _right in front of me._ Knowing that Stiles at least finds Derek attractive is definitely something Derek can work with, so he lets the warm water wash over his body as he wraps his hand around his cock. He tries not to think of the stereotypical porn scenes that he’s often imagined him and Stiles in. He tries not to imagine himself saying to Stiles, _“Maybe after our shower?”_ and Stiles stammering a bit before nodding and following Derek to the bathroom. He tries not to think about slowly undressing Stiles. Pushing his hands into the sides of Stiles’ jeans after unzipping them. Using his wrists to force the jeans down and not letting his hands disconnect from Stiles' skin as they run down the length of Stiles’ legs, up until Stiles steps out of them and kicks them aside.

He’s panting as he imagines sliding his hands all the way back up Stiles’ legs, over his hips, and lifting Stiles’ shirt—he imagines his thumbs reaching out to glide against Stiles’ nipples as Stiles lifts his arms to let the shirt come off the rest of the way. Him and Stiles would finally get into the shower, both of their bodies dripping with water and Stiles would turn Derek around, make him bend over a little before Stiles dropped to his knees. God, the thought of Stiles’ hands spreading Derek’s cheeks and Stiles’ _tongue_ pushing into Derek’s hole makes Derek’s hands stutter as he’s jerking off. He reaches around and pushes a finger against his hole, unhappy with the feel of it when all he can imagine is the wetness of Stiles’ tongue flat against his hole. Derek knows Stiles would love rimming. He’s constantly moving his mouth and licking his lips, there’s no way Stiles would be able to pass up the opportunity to let his mouth run wild on Derek’s ass.

He pushes his finger pass the rim and Derek groans. His other hand speeds up on his cock and soon enough he’s spilling over his hand, against the shower wall, Stiles’ name on his lips.

He hears the door to the bathroom click shut and his heart stills. He stops breathing. Mr. Stilinski isn’t home, so the only person that could’ve been is Stiles. _Or the wind,_ the hopeful part of Derek supplies. _Maybe it was just the wind._

He calls out, “Stiles?” and there’s no response. So, if it _was_ Stiles, it was Stiles _leaving,_ not _entering._ Which means Stiles may have heard him groaning _and_ whispering Stiles’ name while in the shower. Derek takes his time with the actual shower part of the shower, terrified of leaving this bathroom and facing Stiles. _It was probably just the wind._

It wasn’t just the wind.

Stiles didn’t specifically _say_ that he heard Derek jerking off in the shower, but when he said, “So, how was your shower?” right before he had a coughing attack and even his hands blushed red, Derek could make an educated guess.

It’s the elephant in the room now that they’re playing Xbox and barely speaking and Derek can’t handle it, so when their next game ends, he turns to Stiles and says, “Now we’re even.”

At first, Stiles looks confused, his forehead scrunching up, probably thinking that Derek’s talking about the game they’re playing, but then Derek kind of gestures to his crotch area and Stiles follows the gesture before nodding profusely. “Right, right. Yeah. Yep. Of course. Right.”

The difference is that Stiles probably heard Derek whisper Stiles’ name, but there’s nothing Derek can do about that. Derek hopes Stiles will think he misheard or something. Anything. “We’re both teenage boys, so it’s gonna happen, right?” Derek shrugs, going with the calm, cool, and collected front once again, even though the fact that they’re talking about masturbating is causing Derek to think about it. He still can’t believe Stiles jerked off while Derek was _sleeping_ right above him. Derek shakes his head, clearing it. “Anyway, I’m gonna get ready for our double date now.” Derek smirks and pushes Stiles’ shoulder. “You better start getting ready too if you want to be deemed worthy as my boyfriend.”

“Pshht,” Stiles mumbles. “That’ll never happen.”

Derek’s faced with a dilemma. He could pretend he didn’t hear Stiles—it’s clear it wasn’t really Stiles’ intention for Derek to hear—or he could give in to what he actually _wants_ to do and tell Stiles he’s crazy. “Don’t be ridiculous,” Derek says before he can stop himself. Looks like he went with the latter.

Stiles twists to look at Derek and raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“I was just kidding about being deemed worthy. Trust me, you’re already very worthy. I’m the one that’s gonna have to step my game up.”

Stiles laughs with his whole body and if Derek couldn’t tell the laugh was self-deprecating, then he would enjoy the movement it caused. “Okay, dude, whatever you say.”

“I’m serious.” Derek turns to look out the window, back at his old house, and makes a decision. “Remember when I told you that hearing you come out to Laura helped me realize I’m bi?”

“Yeah…but, I don’t see how that has to do with—.”

“It’s because I think you’re hot,” Derek blurts. He refuses to look at Stiles. “So, yeah. Don’t think you’re not. Because you are.” He peeks up to look at Stiles and then looks back down when he sees the shocked look on Stiles’ face. “Anyway, I’m gonna—” Derek grabs the jeans and shirt he plans on wearing before darting out the door to the bathroom to get changed.

He cannot believe he just said that.

  **Stiles**  

Stiles cannot believe Derek just said that.

Stiles’ first instinct is to deny it. Derek’s probably just trying to make Stiles feel better, but if that were the case, why wouldn’t Derek be able to look him in the eye afterward? So, Derek thinks Stiles is _hot._ Stiles doesn’t know what to do with that information.

It doesn’t mean that he has _feelings_ for Stiles. It doesn’t even mean that Derek wants anything to do with Stiles, it just means that he thinks Stiles is attractive.

 _But_ , Stiles’ mind presses, _that would explain what I heard him say in the shower._

Shit. What if Derek was _jerking off_ to thoughts of _Stiles?_ Stiles just really had to pee; he thought he’d be quick enough that it wouldn’t even matter, thought Derek wouldn’t be able to hear him over the sound of the shower and, well, Derek didn’t hear him—at first, at least. But, Stiles heard Derek and it sounded like Derek was having the time of his life in that shower. _And he said my name,_ Stiles reminds himself.

Stiles decides this is something worth exploring further, so he puts on his tightest jeans—the ones he wears to Jungle and _no where else_ because they’re honestly indecent. He throws on a loose tank top that has a pocket above the left side of his chest with the Batman symbol on it and then his trusty Converse. Just as he’s bent over, tying his left shoe, he hears Derek’s footsteps coming down the hall toward the bedroom. He takes his time finishing tying his shoe, staying in his bent over position until he hears Derek’s footsteps come to a halt at the entrance to the bedroom.

He slowly stands up and tries not to think about how he more or less just did the “bend and snap.” He turns to Derek and only has half a second to relish in Derek’s facial expression before that facial expression is mirrored on Stiles’ face. Derek’s Henley is tight across his chest and shoulders. His jeans aren’t _as_ indecent as Stiles,’ but it’s a close call. “Good,” Stiles breaks the silence. “You _definitely_ made sure to look snazzy as hell.”

“You too,” Derek exhales.

 _Oh,_ Stiles thinks, _this is gonna be fun._

Scott keeps side-eyeing Stiles, but now he’s full on staring at Stiles in shock. See, Stiles may be going a _little_ overboard with the fake boyfriend actions tonight. Right now, he’s kindly asked Derek to help him bowl. It makes sense; Stiles hasn’t gotten a strike yet and Derek’s gotten _multiple._ So, Derek’s entire body is flush against Stiles’ back and Stiles’ Secret Plan is in full effect. It’s almost like Derek can’t help but run his hand all the way down Stiles’ arm before grabbing his wrist and pulling it back. When they both bring their arms forward and Stiles releases the ball, Derek doesn’t move away from Stiles. They both watch the ball roll toward the pins and wait to see the results. When it turns out to be a strike Stiles shouts in victory and turns to Derek.

Derek’s hands end up on Stiles’ waist and the front of their bodies are pressed together. Derek’s smiling and looking into Stiles’ eyes and Stiles knows his smile is just as big. They’re just standing there staring at each other when Allison yells, “You two are too cute!” before taking a picture. They break apart and walk back toward Allison and Scott.

“They’re not as cute as us,” Scott mutters, sounding dejected.

“Oh, sweetie, of course not.” She kisses Scott quick on the lips and Stiles looks over to Derek upon hearing Allison refer to Scott as “sweetie.”

“It doesn’t sound forced to me,” Derek says quietly.

“That’s because Scott and Allison are puking levels of adorable. Every pet name sounds natural coming from them.”

Derek nods as if he understands and Stiles thinks he might, even though they’ve only been hanging out with Scott and Allison for an hour. Like Stiles said, _puking levels_ of adorable.

Stiles interrupts them from their eskimo kisses and says, “Alright, the game’s over. Is it time for pizza yet?”

“Hell yeah!” Scott throws his fist in the air and Allison rolls her eyes, fond smile on her face.

Stiles throws his arm around Derek’s shoulders once he stands up and it’s different from their usual hand holding, so Derek is forced to wrap his arm around Stiles’ waist, hand landing on Stiles’ hip. Stiles turns to look at Derek and grins.

Allison nudges Stiles. “You two need to stop staring at each other like you want to jump each other’s bones and pay attention to where you’re walking.”

Stiles turns to look at Allison and gives her an incredulous look, “You’re one to talk!”

“We’re different. We’re more experienced, so our peripheral vision has improved. You and Derek aren’t ready for googly-eyed walking yet.”

“We’ll see about that!” Stiles goes back to looking at Derek and promptly trips over a bowling shoe someone dropped. “Well, shit.” The bright side is that Derek had to hold tight to Stiles’ hip in order to keep Stiles from falling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to be the last chapter, everyone! Get ready!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a day late! Oh, and, I hate to change things up in the last chapter, but I’m doing it and I’m sorry. It’s going to be Stiles’ POV then Derek’s POV just because it works better for what I want to happen!

  **Stiles**  

Stiles is walking back from brushing his teeth when he pauses at the bedroom door. Derek is standing by the window, staring out at his old house. The light from the moon dances across Derek’s cheeks and Stiles can see a tear glisten from the doorway. He takes a step inside and the floor creaks, Derek’s head snapping up to connect eyes with Stiles. Derek quickly wipes at his face as Stiles walks over to stand by him at the window. Stiles grabs onto Derek’s hand and intertwines their fingers. Derek immediately relaxes when Stiles’ thumb brushes over his knuckles.

After a moment, Derek whispers, “I miss them.” Stiles is quiet, letting Derek say what he needs. “I tell my family everything. I tell them when I get good grades, when I get bad grades, when I score the most in a game, when I don’t score at all. They know everything about me, you know?” Stiles turns to look at Derek; Derek’s still looking out the window. “I don’t understand why it’s so much harder to tell them something this important. And the worst part is that I want to _talk_ to them about it. I just don’t want to tell them. Does that even make sense?”

Stiles squeezes Derek’s hand in affirmation. “Even knowing deep down that things are going to work out doesn’t make the process easier. It’s scary and it’s frustrating and I’m here for you.”

“Are you really?” Derek won’t look at Stiles.

“Yes. I promise I won’t leave you—not again.”

And apparently that’s what does it. That “again” because Derek turns to look at Stiles and his eyes bore into him. Stiles lifts the hand not linked with Derek’s and brings it to Derek’s cheek, brushing a thumb up his cheekbone and under his eye. Derek sighs, leaning into the touch.

“We can talk to your family tomorrow, if you want. You can videochat with them and I’ll stay off screen, but I’ll be there in whatever way you need me. Friend or—or fake boyfriend or whatever.”

Derek steps closer to Stiles and says, “I missed you so much, Stiles.”

“I’m sorry.” It’s all Stiles can say at this point, really.

“No, I under—actually, I don’t understand. But, you had your reasons. Don’t be sorry.”

Stiles lets go of Derek’s hand and brings it up to rest on Derek’s other cheek. “Just know that I’ve missed you too.”

Stiles’ eyes are traveling between Derek’s waiting for…something. Stiles doesn’t know what, but then Derek puts a hand on Stiles’ hip with a little pressure. Stiles leans forward, closing his eyes. He’s done his part and he’ll wait to see if Derek does his.

Suddenly, there’s chapped lips on his, pressing deep. Stiles’ mouth drops open just a fraction in surprise. His eyes were closed, okay? He didn’t see it coming. Derek’s tongue pushes into Stiles’ mouth, twisting with Stiles’ when Stiles lets the surprise leave his system. Stiles pushes Derek’s chin up slightly, but doesn’t move his lips away. Stiles captures Derek’s bottom lip between his teeth and Derek groans before taking a sudden step backward, no where within touching distance of Stiles.

“Oh, god, Stiles, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I just—.”

“Why are you apologizing? I was clearly all about that make-out sesh.”

Derek looks pained. “We can’t do this anymore. This fake boyfriend shit. It was dumb to begin with. I was fooling myself.”

“Derek, what are you _talking_ about? This plan has gone off great. It’s even led us to smooching.”

Derek hasn’t stopped shaking his head. Soon enough, it’ll fly off. “I don’t want to _smooch_ you, Stiles.” Stiles’ heart plummets to the depths of hell, never to see the light again. “Not like this,” Derek mumbles. Stiles’ heart races back above and into the light again. He makes a decision. He’s been doing that a lot lately.

“I know you were a bit surprised to hear that I came out to my mom in seventh grade.” Stiles is going for it, going all in. If their double “date” last night with Scott and Allison meant anything, Derek either has real feelings for Stiles _or_ needs to become an actor as soon as possible. “I also know that you...” Stiles clears his throat. “That you maybe wonder why I drifted away from you.” Derek goes still; Stiles wonders if he’s even breathing. “It’s funny because both things kind of go together. I, uh, I realized that I had feelings for guys…well, for you.” Derek’s hand tightens where it’s grasped on Stiles’ hip. “I told my mom about it and she told me it didn’t matter who I was attracted to. She told me she’d love me no matter what. She died that day, Derek. And she died knowing who I was and loving me for it and that’s on _you. You_ did that and I never thanked you for it.”

Derek looks taken aback, but he has that little furrow in his eyebrow. “Then why? Why did you drift away from me? I thought I did something wrong.”

“No, I just…” Stiles looks away from Derek, teeth digging into his bottom lip. “I was afraid, mostly. I was afraid I’d keep falling for you and I’d be living in misery because I wouldn’t be able to get over you and I’d be pining forever and I thought that continuing to be friends with you would just amplify that, you know?” He turns back to Derek, connects eyes with him. “Turns out it didn’t even matter.”

Derek’s eyes sparkle in the moonlight. “What do you mean?”

Stiles inhales and then exhales, “I never got over you.”

Derek surges forward, capturing Stiles’ lips and Stiles falls into Derek’s arms. Derek backs Stiles up and when Stiles feels the back of his legs hit his bed, he grabs Derek’s hair and pushes him down, bending their bodies under the top bunk in order to lay comfortably on the bottom mattress. “You mean it?” Derek’s voice is rough, nipping at Stiles’ ear and jaw.

“I wouldn’t lie to you.” Stiles tugs Derek’s hair and Derek’s hips cant forward onto Stiles’ thigh.

After Derek’s left a cluster of hickies on Stiles’ neck that Stiles prepares to cover expertly with his multiple concealers and powders that he purchased from the _last_ hickie he got, he says softly, “What do you want?”

Stiles taps his chin with his pointer finger. “That’s a toughie. World peace, I guess? Is that too Mr. America of me?”

Derek laughs and nibbles the tip of Stiles’ nose. “That’s not what I meant. Do you want to be, you know, boyfriends? Not fake ones?”

Stiles thinks back to that first moment when he realized his thoughts about Derek were more than just friendly. He thinks about how scared he was to lose his best friend and how he ended up losing him anyway because he thought it was the right thing to do. He still can’t bring himself to regret it because look where it’s led them. “You know what made me realize I had feelings for you when we were little?” Stiles doesn’t wait for Derek to answer. “I was rambling, as I do, and you were looking up at me with the smallest smile. Your eyes were dancing over my face and I couldn’t stop thinking about how unreal they were. How does someone have eyes like that, Derek, seriously? I need to know, for science! _Anyway,_ no one smiled at me when I rambled. Not even my dad. He’d roll his eyes fondly or whatever, but you just smiled that little smile like you never wanted me to stop talking.”

Derek blushes. “I didn’t—I love it when you ramble.”

“Well, I wanted to kiss you then and I want to kiss you now and I can guarantee I’m gonna wanna kiss you tomorrow and the next day and the next and the next—.” Derek kisses him, shutting him up. It’s fast and chaste and Stiles says, “Hey, I thought you liked hearing me talk.” Derek pushes him off the bed. Stiles shrieks. “This is no way to treat your boyfriend, Derek!”

His dad’s voice comes through the doorway, “What did you just say?”

So, here they are. At the kitchen table. Stiles and Derek on one side and Stiles’ dad on the other. His dad has been taking turns staring menacingly at Stiles then Derek then Stiles then a little longer at Derek. Finally, Stiles can’t take it anymore. He coughs into his elbow, ready to give his defense.

“What's going on here?” Of course, now his dad decides to talk.

“Well, sir,” Derek begins.

Stiles cuts him off. “Nothing!” Derek flinches next to him. “I mean, not _really._ Not yet! The moment you came in the room was the first time I ever even called him my boyfriend.” Stiles says under his breath, “Way to ruin a moment, dad.”

His dad raises an eyebrow at him. “How can you think this is a good idea?” He doesn’t sound angry, really. Just curious.

“Dad, come on. I’ve been a little bit in love with Derek since the _seventh grade._ ”

“You two have hardly spoken since the seventh grade!” His dad argues.

“Exactly! And yet here we still end up! I didn’t think I had a chance.” Stiles peeks at Derek only to find him already looking at Stiles, a little shocked.

“Do your parents know, Derek? About…”

Derek shakes his head. “I planned on telling them tomorrow. I’ve been in the process, you know? Stiles has been helping me with it.” Stiles finds Derek’s hand under the table and squeezes it. He likes holding Derek’s hand, so sue him.

His dad sighs, rubbing his hands down his face. “We’re gonna need new sleeping arrangements. No way are you two sleeping in the same room if you’re together. We’ll clear out the office this weekend.”

“I didn’t mean to make things harder, Mr. Stilinski.”

His dad smiles at Derek. “Son, you know how much I love you both. Me and your parents always thought there might be something special between you two. Just wish you could’ve waited a little while longer to figure it out.” His dad chuckles and gets up. “Now, get to bed, you two. Your _own_ beds.”

Stiles and Derek jog upstairs, hand in hand, and get into their own beds. Until Stiles hears his dad’s bedroom door shut. Then, Stiles takes the ladder to Derek’s bed and wraps his arms around Derek’s sleepy body. Derek’s head nuzzles into Stiles’ neck and Stiles kisses him softly.

  **Derek**  

Derek calls his mom on Skype. Stiles is rubbing his hand up and down Derek’s shin out of screen. Laura ends up answering the call, shouting into the microphone. “Baby bro!”

Derek grumbles, “I wanna talk to mom.”

“Sheesh! You haven’t talked to your older sister in _weeks_ and that’s the greeting you give? What has gotten into you?” Derek looks over to Stiles, pleading with his eyes for Stiles to _fix this,_ but Stiles shrugs. “Wait, Der. You actually don’t look too good. What’s going on?”

“Laura, could you _please_ just put mom and dad on?”

“Fine, fine, okay.” Laura stands up so the only thing visible on screen is her waist. “ _Mom! Dad! Derek wants to talk to you and he looks like he’s gonna puke!_ ”

Seconds later, his mom and dad come into view and they push Laura away into the kitchen. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“Nothing, I’ve just got some news is all.” Derek looks to Stiles again and his boyfriend smiles at him encouragingly, accompanied with a squeeze to his shin. “I might have a date to the winter formal.” He doesn’t know how to phrase it and he notices Stiles waggling his eyebrows at him. Derek kicks him and Stiles muffles a grunt.

“Oh!” His mom seems pleased. “Do you got yourself a little girlfriend?” Derek goes tense all over and Stiles keeps rubbing his shin.

“Or…boyfriend?” His dad inquires.

Derek’s eyes look up from where they were staring at the keyboard. “Yeah, uh. Boyfriend.”

“Well, now, that’s great!” His mom claps twice. “Is it anyone we know?”

“Well…”

Stiles jumps into the screen when Derek looks at him again. “Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Hale!”

“ _Oh,_ ” his dad says quietly. “Is this the boyfriend, Derek?”

Derek nods.

His mom’s smile has only gotten bigger. “This is just lovely! I remember talking to your mother, Stiles. About how you two boys always looked at each other like you were trying to fight over who was responsible for hanging the moon. I always thought Derek’s theory that you hung the moon won, but that’s probably because he had more time to look at you while you talked.”

“ _Mom,_ ” Derek scolds, but he’s smiling.

“I hope this wasn’t causing you much anguish, son,” his father continues. “We love you, always.”

“I love you, too.” Derek can feel the tears in his eyes and he tries to blink them away, but they end up falling down his face.

“Oh, honey,” his mom coos. “What’s wrong?”

Derek says, “Nothing.” He looks to Stiles and gives him a watery smile. Stiles wipes the tear from his cheek.

Laura runs into the screen. “Did I overhear that my baby bro is finally getting it with Stiles? Stiles, you go, man!”

“Did somebody say Stiles?” Cora’s voice is heard off screen. “Stiles!”

Stiles throws his head back and laughs. Derek ends the call quickly after that, so he can kiss up Stiles’ neck and attempt to leave hickies that not even Stiles’ concealer can cover.

They’re sitting at lunch with _everyone._ Derek thought he’d hate this, having a table full to the brim with everyone talking over each other. But, it’s kind of nice, Stiles talking to a bunch of different people, but his hand never leaving Derek’s thigh, like no matter what he’s always thinking of Derek. No matter who he’s talking to, Derek’s in his mind.

Derek guesses he’s been gazing at Stiles for too long again because Erica says, “ _Ugh,_ you make me _sick,_ Hale.”

Derek looks over to her and grins. “Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m _really_ not.”

Erica rolls her eyes. “Don’t you think it’s kind of cliché, though? The whole boy next door story? Aren’t you supposed to _hate_ clichés?”

Derek raises an eyebrow at her and instinctively brings his hand to rest above Stiles.’ “Are you suggesting I just _not_ date Stiles because I don’t want to be a part of a cliché?”

“Hmm, I guess not. As annoying as you’ve been, you’ve been smiling a lot more lately. It’s scary, but I guess it means you’re happy or whatever, which is good, I guess.”

Derek snickers, “Don’t sound _too_ glad about my happiness. You’d think I’m one of your best friends or something.”

Isaac says, “I’m happy for you.” He doesn’t even accentuate the “I’m” to show he’s a better friend than Erica.

Stiles kisses Derek’s cheek, having left whatever conversation he was a part of. “I’m happy for you, too,” he whispers in Derek’s ear. Derek shivers and turns to look at Stiles, kissing him gently on the lips. The entire table groans in despair and Stiles laughs, loud as ever, his whole body moving with it. “You know, I can think of five _thousand_ different scenarios where I have had to see you people kissing your _array_ of significant others and did I complain?”

Every shouts, “Yes!”

Stiles ignores them in favor of continuing. “No! Because I’m a _good, decent,_ human being! And did you know that PDA stems from…”

Stiles continues rambling about statistics on PDA and also how his friends are awful and Stiles is amazing and Derek looks at Stiles while he rambles, smiling small.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am _finished_. I hope you all enjoyed it! I really enjoyed writing it and I loved all the comments along the way. It means a lot to me to have people read what I write and have something to say about what I write - good or bad (although I prefer good). You all are the best!
> 
> Until next time :D


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